Digital asset exchange OKX and international banking group Standard Chartered announced the expansion of their institutional partnership to the European Economic Area (EEA). Both partners confirmed that institutional clients in the region can now access a regulated framework for trading digital assets.

The British multinational bank Standard Chartered has joined forces with OKX exchange to integrate regulated bank custody with crypto trading infrastructure, giving institutional investors a secure and compliant pathway to trade digital assets in Europe, according to the announcement released yesterday.

“We've expanded our partnership with Standard Chartered Bank to Europe. OKX will enable institutional clients to use Standard Chartered Bank – a globally systemically important bank and regulated digital asset custodian – to safeguard their assets while trading on OKX,” wrote OKX on the X platform.

The program will allow clients to hold their digital assets with Standard Chartered as an independent, regulated custodian. These holdings are then mirrored as collateral on the OKX platform, enabling institutions to trade in real time without their assets ever leaving the security of the bank’s custody.

“The expansion of our custody to the EEA represents a significant milestone in our collaboration with OKX,” said Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head of Financing and Securities Services at Standard Chartered.

MiCA license supports regulated growth in Europe

The regulated environment is established under OKX’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license – the EU regulation for the crypto market approved at the end of 2024. The license covers nine of ten service categories, positioning the exchange as a fully regulated operator in the European Union.

“The combination of our MiCA license and the expansion of our custody partnership into the EEA reflects OKX’s commitment to building a trusted and fully regulated marketplace in Europe,” said Iskandar Vanblarcum, Vice President of Institutional Sales & Business Development at OKX.

The expansion of the partnership into Europe follows a successful launch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2025. Since its debut, the program has attracted significant institutional interest, accumulating over $100 million in assets under custody.

For Standard Chartered, this collaboration is part of a broader strategy to integrate digital assets into its services. The bank has been actively expanding its presence in the sector, including launching its own crypto trading desk for institutional clients.

OKX has also been focused on enhancing its platform and ecosystem. The exchange recently detailed the X Layer upgrade, a move designed to improve performance and optimize the network for DeFi applications.

The extension of the partnership provides a structured and secure solution for institutional clients in the EEA to participate in the digital asset market, combining the trading infrastructure of a major exchange with the custodial security of an established multinational bank.

Sources:

https://x.com/OKXInsto/status/1978381463050400207

https://www.okx.com/en-gb/learn/standard-chartered-partnership-european-expansion

https://cryptobriefing.com/institutional-crypto-trading-europe/

https://www.coinspeaker.com/okx-standard-chartered-europe-expansion/