The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved Zodia Custody to provide commercial services in the UK, the platform can now deliver commercial services as a crypto asset business.
Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and Northern Trust, a leading asset servicing provider, have teamed up to create Zodia Custody.
It meets the needs of institutional investors searching for crypto-asset custody services that meet the high standards of traditional custody services while keeping the flexibility needed to respond to the evolving crypto-asset market.
The FCA has approved Zodia to provide commercial services under the UK’s Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017.
Zodia is one of nine crypto-asset businesses that have been approved by the FCA to provide commercial services under the regulatory guidelines of the UK’s Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017.
In January 2020, crypto-asset services were added to the above, making registration with the FCA required for all enterprises providing crypto-asset services in the UK.
By linking crypto-asset services with traditional asset markets, Zodia Custody hopes to make the crypto-asset market more accessible to a broader institutional audience.
With a fast growing number of institutional asset owners, family offices, and asset managers throughout the world engaging in the new crypto asset arena, demand for crypto asset custody services has surged since 2020.
“We believe crypto assets as an asset class is here to stay. We set up Zodia Custody with the clear goal of serving institutional investors who want to invest in crypto assets in a sustainable, safe, and responsible way. Our aspiration is to lift standards, grow the ecosystem and help a nascent industry mature, becoming more acceptable to institutional investors and ultimately society at large.”, said Alex Manson of SC Ventures.
Zodia Custody now provides custody services for Bitcoin and Ethereum, but the company is working to expand its portfolio.
Zodia’s parent company, Standard Chartered, has invested in Metaco, a key technology provider, and is working with the Bank of Thailand and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to expand into distributed ledger interoperability for cross-border fund transfers.
