Commonplace Chartered is reportedly weighing a restructuring of its majority-owned crypto custodian Zodia Custody, as massive banks look to deliver extra digital asset infrastructure inside their core banking operations.
The UK-based lender plans to fold Zodia’s crypto custody enterprise right into a division inside its company and funding financial institution that already presents comparable providers, whereas protecting Zodia working as a standalone Software program-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for digital asset custody, in response to Bloomberg on Wednesday, citing individuals conversant in the matter. An announcement on the restructuring may reportedly come as quickly as this month.
It’s not but clear whether or not Commonplace Chartered has opened negotiations with Zodia’s minority shareholders, which embrace Northern Belief, Emirates NBD, Nationwide Australia Financial institution and SBI Holdings.
Commonplace Chartered has quickly expanded its personal digital asset footprint, reportedly exploring the launch of a crypto prime brokerage platform by way of its enterprise arm, SC Ventures, and rolling out institutional crypto buying and selling in summer time 2025.
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The financial institution was an early mover into digital property, establishing Zodia in 2020 with Northern Belief, and the custodian has since raised exterior capital and grown throughout seven workplaces in Europe, Asia and the Center East.
Cointelegraph reached out to Commonplace Chartered and Zodia, however had not obtained a response by publication.
How different huge banks are internalizing crypto custody
Commonplace Chartered’s reported rethink comes as different international banks take digital asset custody straight beneath regulated banking entities. In February, Morgan Stanley utilized for a US de novo nationwide belief financial institution constitution, which might enable it to custody sure digital property and execute purchases, gross sales, swaps, transfers and staking providers for shoppers inside a bank-regulated framework.
In October 2022, BNY Mellon launched a Digital Asset Custody platform within the US that lets chosen shoppers maintain and switch Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) alongside conventional property on a single platform, positioning the financial institution as a core supplier of each typical and tokenized asset servicing.
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