Standard Chartered PLC reportedly seeks to fully acquire Zodia Custody Ltd. to merge it with one of its digital assets divisions, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
The “restructuring” plan, which could come as soon as this month, envisages merging Zodia’s cryptocurrency custody business into one of the investment bank’s divisions offering similar services, the sources told Bloomberg.
The sources also indicated that Standard Chartered is considering allowing Zodia Custody to continue operating as a separate software-as-a-service (SAAS) business for cryptocurrency custody.
People familiar with the negotiations, according to Bloomberg, did not say whether Standard Chartered had approached Zodia Custody’s minority shareholders, which include Northern Trust Corp., Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, National Australia Bank Ltd. and SBI Holdings Inc.
Emirates NBD and Northern Trust declined to comment, while SBI Holdings and NAB did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Bloomberg wrote.
Standard Chartered told CoinDesk it would not comment on reports regarding the potential buyout. Zodia did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
Standard Chartered has expanded its presence in digital assets in recent years. The bank launched its own digital asset custody services from Luxembourg in January last year and introduced cryptocurrency trading for institutional clients last summer, becoming one of the first global banks to offer bitcoin and ethereum spot trading.
Banks have stepped up their activities related to digital assets as regulatory clarity improves in key regions such as the United States and Europe. Cryptocurrency custody, in particular, has become a terrain of fierce competition, with firms such as State Street, BNY Mellon and Morgan Stanley expanding their presence, with Morgan Stanley recently appointing Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians for a proposed bitcoin ETF.
Zodia, which was aimed at financial institutions and began custody of Emeralds in June 2025, raised $18.5 million in a Series A funding round in July last year to expand and grow its payment services in stablecoins.
The company was originally established in 2020 as a joint venture between Standard Chartered and Northern Trust and has since raised external capital on several occasions. Zodia Custody employs approximately 150 people across seven offices in London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Sydney and Hong Kong.
