As consumer and business interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency continues to grow, banks like Standard Chartered are becoming increasingly aware of the investment potential these sectors present.
The UK multinational bank’s fintech investment and ventures arm, SC Ventures, has made a strategic investment into crypto-asset exchange One Trading as part of a funding round involving three other firms.
Valar and SpeedInvest joined Standard Chartered in injecting cash into the company, whilst existing investor MiddleGame Ventures increased its stake in the firm. The terms of the deal and scope of the funding have not been disclosed, however.
What is clear are One Trading’s ambitions. The Dutch organised trading facility (OTF) licenced firm has detailed plans to use the investment to launch crypto perpetual futures in the EU as a trading venue. This falls under the body’s MiFID II transparency and investor protection framework.
Joshua Barraclough, Founder and CEO of One Trading, said: “As a major, multinational bank with a commitment to innovation, SC Ventures is dedicated to driving digital assets market infrastructure.
“We welcome them as an investor in the company and believe they can add a lot of value to One Trading and our clients.”
After suffering a few setbacks in 2022 and 2023, largely due to scandals and legal proceedings such as the arrest and imprisonment of FTX Founder Sam Barkman-Fried, the crypto sector is on the road to recovery.
The return of market confidence as the impact of the FTX collapse subsidised helped in this regard. This renewed confidence was built on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of Bitcoin ETFs, something which has been mirrored by the more recent approval of Ether ETFs.
With consumers now returning to the crypto exchange platforms, banks are taking note of blockchain technology and crypto’s resurgence as both a potential investment opportunity and as a tool in wider product offerings.
Standard Chartered has been particularly active in this regard. This year has seen the firm partner with Crypto.com, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, join the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stablecoin issuer sandbox and most recently, launch a digital asset custody service in the UAE.
On the One Trading investment, Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, said: “Financial innovation should not come at the cost of consumer protection, that’s why we are glad to see One Trading receiving the OTF License.
“We congratulate the team on becoming the first MiFID II trading venue for crypto perpetual futures in the EU. We look forward to One Trading providing much needed infrastructure to all participants in the EU and further afield.”
