Standard Chartered Signs Definitive Deal to Take Full Ownership of Zodia Custody
Published October 21, 2026, 6:45 PM PKT. Based on Zodia Custody's announcement of October 21, 2026 (primary source), with reporting from The Block, CoinTelegraph and The Defiant on October 21, 2026 (secondary sources).
Standard Chartered has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of Zodia Custody, the institutional digital asset custodian it helped create, turning a takeover first agreed in principle in May into a binding deal. The bank announced the signing on October 21, 2026, and said Standard Chartered I H Limited will acquire 100% of Zodia Custody UK Limited, the parent company of Zodia's regulated operating entities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg. Completion remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, and financial terms were not disclosed, according to The Block.
The definitive agreement: 100% of Zodia Custody UK Limited
The October 21 announcement, issued in London by Zodia Custody, follows the acceptance of Standard Chartered's non-binding offer to acquire the custodian. Under the definitive agreements, Standard Chartered I H Limited takes the whole of Zodia Custody UK Limited, which sits above the regulated operating entities in the five jurisdictions. The deal does not close on signing. It needs regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, and neither Standard Chartered nor Zodia gave a completion date in the announcement.
What moves where: custody into Securities Services, software into Zodia Solutions
After completion, Zodia's regulated digital asset custody business will be integrated into Standard Chartered's existing digital asset custody activities within Securities Services, the bank's securities services division. Zodia said the move will consolidate Standard Chartered's digital asset custody businesses, unlock revenue synergies and support a unified client offering that integrates traditional and digital asset securities services for institutional clients globally. At the same time, Zodia will separate its digital asset software and professional services business and transfer those assets to Zodia Solutions, an independent entity to be established under SC Ventures, Standard Chartered's venture arm. Zodia Solutions will provide bank-grade infrastructure to financial institutions, including Standard Chartered, as they launch and scale digital asset services, and it will be backed by bank investors including NAB Ventures, Northern Trust, SBI Ventures, Further Ventures, Emirates NBD Bank and Investcorp, according to the announcement.
Ying Ying Tan, Standard Chartered's global head of Securities Services and Digital Assets, said the acquisition further deepens the bank's digital asset custody portfolio and reinforces its position as a leading provider of digital asset services globally. Zodia Custody chief executive Richard Clark said custody is increasingly becoming part of the global banking landscape as institutional adoption of digital assets accelerates, and that combining Zodia's specialist expertise with Standard Chartered's global reach will strengthen its custody offering. Craig Perrin, chief executive of Zodia Solutions, said financial institutions are moving beyond digital asset pilots towards operating services at scale and need trusted technology partners to support them. Zodia said there is no expected disruption to clients as a result of the transaction, and existing custody clients continue to be serviced as usual.
The May offer and the delayed timetable
The definitive signing lands five months after Zodia's shareholders and noteholders accepted Standard Chartered's non-binding offer in May, according to The Block. Definitive agreements were initially targeted for the end of June, with completion expected by the end of August, The Block reported, so the October signing arrives behind that original timetable. There was also a leadership change in between. Zodia Custody chief executive Julian Sawyer stepped down in September, with former chief revenue officer Richard Clark taking over, The Block reported. CoinTelegraph reported that the UK-based lender began considering folding Zodia's crypto custody business into its corporate and investment banking division in April, before the non-binding offer was accepted.
Standard Chartered's wider crypto push
The acquisition is the latest step in Standard Chartered's expansion into institutional crypto services, and it follows moves on both the trading and custody sides this year. In September, Standard Chartered launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates, according to CoinTelegraph. Earlier in October, the bank announced plans to launch crypto custody services in Singapore by the end of 2026, The Block reported. Zodia itself secured a payment institution licence in Luxembourg in June, allowing it to offer regulated stablecoin custody and transfer services across the European Union, according to The Block. The Zodia deal therefore folds an already regulated, multi-jurisdiction custodian into a bank that is building its own custody footprint in parallel, rather than buying its way into a market it has not entered.
What happens next: approvals first, integration second
The next step is regulatory approval in the jurisdictions where Zodia's regulated entities operate, plus the customary closing conditions, and the announcement gives no date for completion. Only after completion does the integration begin, with the custody business joining Securities Services and the software business operating separately as Zodia Solutions. For institutional clients, the practical question is whether the combined custody offering, spanning traditional securities services and digital assets under one bank, wins mandates that a standalone custodian could not. For the wider market, the deal is a marker of how far bank ownership of crypto infrastructure has come: a global bank is not partnering with a custodian or taking a stake, it is buying the custodian outright and keeping its technology arm as a separate bank-backed vendor.
This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.
Sources
- Zodia Custody, Standard Chartered Signs Definitive Agreements to Acquire Zodia Custody (October 21, 2026), primary source
- The Block, Standard Chartered signs definitive agreements to acquire Zodia Custody (October 21, 2026), secondary source
- CoinTelegraph, Standard Chartered Signs Agreement to Acquire Zodia Custody (October 21, 2026), secondary source
- The Defiant, Standard Chartered Signs Deal to Take Full Ownership of Zodia Custody (October 21, 2026), secondary source
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