Standard Chartered Steps In as OKX EEA Custodian After Securing EU Crypto License

Standard Chartered has deepened its partnership with cryptocurrency exchange OKX by becoming its institutional custodian in the European Economic Area.

The development comes after Standard Chartered received regulatory approval in Luxembourg earlier this year to offer digital asset custody services. The move established the bank’s presence in the European Union as the region begins implementing its Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation.

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Standard Chartered Partners with OKX

OKX announced the launch of a collateral mirroring program with Standard Chartered in the EEA. The arrangement allows institutional clients to keep their crypto assets directly with the bank while maintaining mirrored balances on OKX for trading.

The initiative builds on a pilot introduced in Dubai in April. It is intended to let institutions hold their digital assets with a globally systemically important bank while trading through the OKX platform.

Bank Now Holds OKX Institutional Crypto Assets

The program’s rollout in Europe follows OKX’s own regulatory milestone, as the exchange obtained a license in Malta under the MiCA framework earlier this year. The move highlights OKX’s focus on institutional clients across European markets.

Before this partnership, most of OKX’s institutional clients stored their crypto assets on the exchange itself, while conducting fiat transactions through standard banking channels. Although third-party custodians such as Copper and Komainu were available, OKX’s internal custody solution remained the default option.

With Standard Chartered’s integration, OKX’s institutional clients can now keep their assets with a regulated global bank while continuing to trade on the exchange.