British multinational bank Standard Chartered is all set to roll out a trading desk for Bitcoin and Ether. The latest development makes it one of the first global banks to engage in spot cryptocurrency trading.

Standard Chartered has been engaging with players in the digital asset space for quite some time and has also partnered with several entities amidst increased demand for crypto exposure.

Standard Chartered Ventures Into Spot Trading

According to two anonymous sources cited by the latest Bloomberg report, the new crypto desk is nearly operational and will be integrated into the banks FX trading unit. One source also revealed that it will based in London.

The bank is yet to confirm its latest initiative but did highlight the growing demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum by its institutional clients. An emailed statement regarding the matter read,

We have been working closely with our regulators to support demand from our institutional clients to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum, in line with our strategy to support clients across the wider digital asset ecosystem, from access and custody to tokenization and interoperability.

Alongside several major players, Standard Chartered has started expanding further into the digital assets sector to cater to the growing institutional demand. The bank currently holds stakes in two cryptocurrency firms Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets which offer services ranging from custody to over-the-counter trading.

Crypto exchange Coinbase announced a strategic banking partnership with Standard Chartered for Singapore users in March last year.

A few months later, Standard Chartered launched Libeara a blockchain division to assist institutional players in tokenizing traditional assets. The unit is currently focused on developing a tokenized government bond fund denominated in the Singaporean dollar.

Standard Chartered Bullish on Digital Assets

In a blog post in February this year, the bank said that it sees digital assets as an important and permanent part of the future of financial services while at the same time deeming the potential of stablecoins.

The bank has also been extremely bullish while forecasting Bitcoins price moves and even predicted that the cryptocurrency could reach $250,000 in 2025 if spot ETF inflows hit the mid-point estimate of $75 billion.