Standard Chartered has signed definitive agreements to acquire digital-asset custodian Zodia Custody, moving a proposed transaction announced earlier this year into a binding deal. The bank said on October 21 that its Standard Chartered I H Limited subsidiary will acquire 100% of Zodia Custody Limited. The transaction still requires regulatory approvals and must satisfy customary closing conditions, so the signing is not the same as completion. Financial terms were not disclosed.

A regulated custody business moves inside the bank

If the deal closes, Zodia Custody's regulated digital-asset custody business will be integrated with Standard Chartered's existing custody activities in Securities Services. Zodia's parent company oversees regulated operating entities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg, according to the bank. Standard Chartered said current custody clients will continue to receive service as usual during the transaction process, with no disruption expected as a result of the agreement.

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The structure gives Standard Chartered direct control of a specialist platform built for institutions that hold crypto assets, while placing it alongside the bank's conventional securities infrastructure. The bank described the combination as part of a broader effort to offer traditional and digital-asset services through a more unified global platform. Independent reporting by The Block and Cointelegraph confirmed the definitive agreement and its remaining approval conditions.

Zodia's software arm takes a separate path

Not every part of Zodia is moving into the custody acquisition. Its digital-asset software and professional-services assets are set to transfer to Zodia Solutions, a new independent entity established under Standard Chartered's SC Ventures arm. Zodia Solutions is intended to provide infrastructure to banks and other financial institutions launching or expanding digital-asset services. Standard Chartered will be a customer, while the venture will have backing from bank investors including Northern Trust, NAB Ventures, SBI Ventures and Emirates NBD, among others named in the announcement.

Why the transaction matters

Custody is a foundational part of institutional crypto activity because asset managers, banks and corporations generally need controlled key management, segregation, governance and regulatory oversight before they can hold digital assets at scale. Bringing Zodia's custody operation inside a global bank could make those services easier to combine with settlement, financing and securities administration. It also underscores how large banks are choosing to own specialist digital-asset infrastructure rather than relying only on external vendors or limited pilot programs. For clients operating across several jurisdictions, a consolidated provider may simplify commercial relationships and technical integration, but it does not erase local licensing, asset-segregation or service rules. Each regulated Zodia entity remains subject to the requirements that apply where it operates, and the acquisition announcement does not expand the permissions of those entities on its own.

What remains unresolved

The announcement does not identify the regulators that must approve the transaction, give a target closing date or disclose the purchase price. Those omissions limit any assessment of the deal's valuation and timetable. The planned integration also depends on completion; until then, Zodia Custody remains a separate operating business and its clients continue under existing arrangements. The next substantive milestones will be regulatory clearances, satisfaction of the closing conditions and confirmation that the custody and software separation has taken effect.

Sources

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