BlockBeats News, September 3rd, according to Reuters, Standard Chartered Bank announced the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading services for institutional clients in the UAE, becoming the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) to offer such services in the Gulf country.

The service allows eligible institutional clients to conduct deliverable BTC and ETH spot trades through Standard Chartered's existing electronic trading channels and access its forex trading interface to execute cryptocurrency transactions.

This expansion builds upon Standard Chartered's digital asset custody business. The bank had previously launched digital asset custody services in the UAE in September 2024 and in July 2025 offered BTC and ETH spot trading to institutional clients for the first time through its UK branch. Standard Chartered stated that clients can choose custody providers, including the Standard Chartered digital asset custody solution, for trade settlement.