One of Britain’s largest banks is launching a new venture: crypto trading.

‍What’s happening:‍

• British multinational bank Standard Chartered has announced they will soon be launching a trading desk focused exclusively on trading Bitcoin and Ethereum
  

Why it matters:‍

• Standard Chartered has publicly stated that the new trading desk comes in response to the increased demand from institutional capital to have access to digital assets, which has been a rising trend following the first ever spot Bitcoin ETFs listing on major stock exchanges in the United States
  

Going deeper:‍

• This is not the first bet Standard Chartered has made on digital assets, having previously built and launched their very own blockchain known as Libeara which is purpose built to tokenize real world assets
  
• Standard Chartered has also backed two digital asset startups Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets which are focused on crypto custody and trading
  
• The United Kingdom as a whole has been beginning to embrace crypto, notably with the London Stock Exchange announcing the launch of the first ever Exchange Traded Notes focused on digital assets

‍