In a significant move to solidify its position at the nexus of traditional and digital finance, Standard Chartered has announced a strategic liquidity partnership with B2C2, a leading institutional liquidity provider in crypto markets.
The collaboration is designed to seamlessly integrate B2C2’s deep digital asset liquidity pools with Standard Chartered’s global banking infrastructure. This will grant the bank’s institutional client network—including asset managers, hedge funds, and corporations—direct, streamlined access to B2C2’s spot and options markets. The core aim is to mitigate the persistent friction in fiat-to-crypto conversions and settlements, which remains a key barrier for large-scale institutional entry.
“Institutional adoption is no longer speculative; it’s operational,” said Luke Boland, Head of FinTech, Asia at Standard Chartered. “This partnership is about building the high-performance, reliable plumbing that global finance requires. We’re moving beyond basic access to creating a market structure that meets the exacting standards of risk management and execution our clients demand.”
The partnership addresses a growing need as regulatory clarity improves and digital assets become a formalised component of diversified portfolios, particularly across Asian markets. By leveraging Standard Chartered’s regulated banking rails and B2C2’s market-making expertise, the alliance seeks to offer a compliant, scalable gateway into the crypto ecosystem.
Thomas Restout, Group Chief Executive at B2C2, commented, “Standard Chartered’s deliberate and credentialed approach to digital assets aligns perfectly with our focus on serving sophisticated institutions. This isn’t just a connectivity agreement; it’s about co-developing a resilient and integrated layer between the two financial worlds. Their global footprint will be instrumental as we expand our institutional reach.”
This initiative represents the latest expansion of Standard Chartered’s multifaceted digital assets strategy. The bank made headlines last year by becoming the first global systemically important bank to offer direct crypto trading to institutional clients. Its broader ecosystem already encompasses digital asset custody via Zodia Custody, trading services through Zodia Markets, and tokenisation projects via Libeara.
Further underscoring its commitment, Standard Chartered—through its joint venture Anchorpoint Financial with Animoca Brands and HKT—is also pursuing a stablecoin issuer licence in Hong Kong.
Analyst Insight: This partnership signals a maturation phase in crypto’s institutionalisation. The focus is shifting from mere “access” to “quality of access”—prioritising liquidity depth, settlement reliability, and integration with legacy systems. Collaborations between established banks and native crypto market specialists like B2C2 are likely to become the dominant model for serving professional investors, combining traditional trust with digital asset expertise.
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