OKX Expands Standard Chartered Custody Partnership to Europe for Safer Institutional Trading
Crypto exchange OKX has expanded its custody partnership with Standard Chartered to the European Economic Area (EEA), offering institutional traders in Europe a bank-grade custody model. This move aims to strengthen investor protection by separating asset custody from trading, a standard of practice in traditional finance but still emerging in the crypto space.
The Partnership Allows Institutions to Trade While Assets Remain in Bank Custody
The partnership allows institutional clients to store their assets with Standard Chartered, one of the few global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) in the world, while simultaneously mapping those balances to OKX for trading. This means customers can access OKX’s liquidity without transferring actual custody of their funds to the exchange, significantly reducing counterparty and custody risks.
Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, said the expansion is an important milestone in aligning digital assets with traditional financial hedges. “The expansion highlights not only Standard Chartered’s confidence as the first and only G-SIB to work directly with a crypto exchange, but also regulators’ growing confidence in this model,” he said.
Regulatory Clarity and Trust
Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing and securities services at Standard Chartered, said the collaboration combines the bank’s established custody infrastructure with OKX’s regulatory framework, providing “safe and compliant solutions” for European institutional investors. She noted that the model aims to provide the crypto industry with the same level of transparency and security that institutional clients expect in traditional markets.
OKX entered into a similar agreement with Komainu in early 2024 as part of its broader effort to offer over-the-counter custody solutions. It joins other major exchanges such as Deribit, Binance, and Bitget that have formed similar partnerships to build trust after years of public failures and regulatory scrutiny.
OKX Integrates PayPal for Fee-Free Crypto Purchases in Europe
In July, OKX partnered with PayPal to allow users in the European Economic Area to purchase and deposit cryptocurrencies directly through the payment platform. The move aims to simplify the purchasing process by offering familiar, localized payment methods such as PayPal balances, linked bank accounts, and cards, with no additional setup required once accounts are connected.
The initiative follows the exchange’s recent registration as Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), ensuring full compliance with EU digital asset regulations. Circle Internet Group and OKX have also announced a partnership aimed at expanding access and liquidity for the USDC stablecoin.
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