Standard Chartered takes full control of Zodia Custody
- Tokenization Insight
- May 18
- 2 min read
Standard Chartered moves to take full control of Zodia Custody and expands digital asset custody footprint.
Standard Chartered plans to acquire the crypto custody business of its majority-owned subsidiary Zodia Custody, bringing it fully in-house and expanding its digital asset footprint. The offer has been accepted by existing shareholders and noteholders, according to a Bloomberg report.
➡️ Why this matters
Digital asset custody sits at the core of onchain finance. It is the layer that enables institutional participation and underpins everything from distribution to capital markets activity.
But it is also a tough business. Highly competitive, capital intensive, and with margins that only improve at scale.
The recent trajectory of BitGo, the first crypto custody business to IPO, highlights this. After going public in early 2026, the stock has struggled following a ~30% miss on Q1 revenue and earnings expectations. Custody alone is not an easy path to profitability.
This is where Standard Chartered’s move becomes strategic.
By fully integrating Zodia Custody, the bank is not just consolidating ownership. It is aligning custody with its broader banking infrastructure, balance sheet, and global client network. That combination is what standalone crypto custodians typically lack.
In other words:
1️⃣ Scale is no longer optional in custody. It is the business model.
2️⃣ Banks with global distribution and funding advantages are structurally better positioned to win.
3️⃣ Custody is increasingly being pulled into a wider product stack rather than operating as a standalone business.
Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head of Financing and Securities Services at Standard Chartered said merging Zodia’s digital-asset custody business with Standard Chartered’s own will pave the way for offering such services in new markets like the UK and Australia.
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