SC Ventures, the innovation and ventures unit of Standard Chartered, announced a partnership with BC Technology Group, the parent company of Hong Kong’s licensed digital asset platform OSL.
The joint venture (JV) was formed to establish a digital asset brokerage and exchange platform for institutional and corporate clients in the UK and Europe and aims to launch in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals.
BC Group’s Chief Information Officer Usman Ahmad will be CEO of the new company, and Nick Philpott of SC Ventures will be its COO.
The JV will be underpinned by BC Group’s leading OSL digital-asset technology and Standard Chartered’s global network and experience in brokerage and providing access to European markets.
Based in the UK, and initially targeting the European market, the company will connect institutional traders to counterparties across markets, delivering access to deep pools of liquidity in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets.
In December 2020, SC Ventures announced a strategic partnership with Northern Trust to launch Zodia Custody, an institutional-grade custody solution for digital assets.
In addition, Standard Chartered has invested in core blockchain technology provider Metaco and is collaborating with the Bank of Thailand and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to explore distributed ledger interoperability for cross-border fund transfers.
Wayne Trench, CEO of BC Group’s OSL Digital Asset Business said,
“We’re thrilled to enter into this partnership to make secure and compliant digital asset trading more accessible to institutional investors in Europe.
Standard Chartered and SC Ventures are known globally as leaders in fintech innovation and banking, and the partnership fits with our geographical expansion and growth strategy as it allows OSL to rapidly enter the European market with a leading partner.”
Usman Ahmad, incoming CEO of the new JV said,
“With total market capitalisation of digital assets over USD1 trillion, collaboration between market-leading firms is imperative to the continued development of robust global institutional digital asset infrastructure.
The JV will aid in maturing the digital asset ecosystem by combining OSL’s expertise in regulatory compliant, secure institutional digital asset trading with SC Ventures’ proven capability to develop future technology capabilities in banking and finance.”
Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash
