Key Notes
- Traditional banking giant Standard Chartered will now safeguard 21Shares' crypto-backed products through its Luxembourg-regulated platform.
- The custody switch from crypto-native Zodia to a TradFi bank signals evolving institutional preferences in digital asset security.
- This partnership exemplifies 2025's trend of legacy financial institutions claiming larger roles in cryptocurrency infrastructure.
Standard Chartered has been appointed as the new digital asset custodian for 21Shares, a leading issuer of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs).
This partnership highlights the growing involvement of traditional financial (TradFi) institutions in the crypto market by providing bank-grade custody for digital assets, now backing the 21Shares products. This looks like a new trend in 2025, with more examples like US Bancorp in the US and BBVA in Spain partnering with Ripple .
According to the announcement , Standard Chartered’s custody platform is regulated in Luxembourg by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) to offer institutional investors a secure, compliant solution in Europe, as well as to companies that provide derivatives like 21Shares.
Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head of Financing and Securities Services at Standard Chartered, said the bank is eager to provide digital asset custody services to ETP providers and institutions, helping them achieve top safety and compliance standards.
“Working with 21Shares as their digital asset custodian allows us to extend our expertise into the fast-evolving digital asset ecosystem and support digital asset-linked product, ” Harwood-Jones noted.
From Crypto-Native to Traditional Finance?
From June 2024, 21Shares selected Zodia Custody as their digital asset custody company for all their crypto products. Standard Chartered, SBI Holdings, Northern Trust, and National Australia Bank back this company. Now, with this new announcement, many questions are arising about what happened to their relationship with Zodia Custody. This custody is more crypto-native, as it even has big exchanges like Bybit among its clients.
If Zodia Custody is a company backed by Standard Chartered, and now 21Shares leaves it for a traditional finance bank, does the ETP provider want to be closer to a TradFi company?
21Shares Makes Major Custody Move in 2025
21Shares is known for focusing on physically backed crypto ETPs listed on major European exchanges, targeting both retail and institutional investors. The company manages around $8 billion in assets with a diverse suite of products, including single-asset and index-based ETPs. It has recently expanded its offerings across Europe and continues to operate independently under FalconX , a digital asset prime broker that acquired the firm this year.
This appointment demonstrates how traditional banks are integrating their regulated infrastructure with crypto to meet institutional demands for security and compliance. Standard Chartered’s custody business represents this trend of bridging traditional finance and digital assets by providing regulated custody solutions for crypto investment products. It also shows how two separate industries that were very distant in the past keep getting closer over time.
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