Financial institution Standard Chartered is looking to set up a trading desk for two of the leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Beyond Standard Chartered: Traditional Banks Gravitate Towards Bitcoin
According to Bloomberg, citing people who are familiar with the matter but have asked to remain anonymous, the set-up process is almost nearing its end and will progress to its official launch in a few weeks. The BTC and ETH trading desks will find support under the bank’s foreign exchange FX trading unit but will operate from London.
Notably, this move makes Standard Chartered one of the first global banks to adopt a crypto strategy through spot digital asset trading. For many years, Goldman Sachs Group and other traditional financial institutions got involved in crypto derivatives trading. However, they were limited by strict regulations which prevented them from dealing directly in the digital assets themselves.
Additionally, most traditional financial institutions fear the outcome of the adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Spot Crypto ETFs Bring Bitcoin and Ethereum to Institutional Investors
Spot crypto ETF is one of the investment vehicles that most of these institutional investors have explored. United States investors recently got access to Bitcoin ETFs about six months ago after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave its approval to the offering.
At the moment, they are expecting spot Ethereum ETFs trading, another means to gain exposure to crypto without the risks involved. Crypto enthusiasts are reaching farther, believing that other crypto ETFs including Solana and XRP could also come into the market.
Despite the broad and growing tilt to Solana ETFs, JPMorgan does not share this sentiment in any way.
Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the Managing Director and global market strategist at JPMorgan cited the classification of most crypto as securities by the SEC as a reason why the Commission may refuse to approve other ETFs. But with the U.S. SEC permanently suspending its probe into Ethereum which it has constantly referred to as securities, these other cryptos may also be in the clear.