Standard Chartered Expands Business by Joining Crypto Family

Standard Chartered, the British multinational bank (MNB), announced Wednesday that the corporation has joined and followed the cryptocurrency trend. 

Standard Chartered Bank is setting up a joint venture to buy and sell virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. On Wednesday, June 2, it announced that its technology department SC Ventures will establish a partnership with BC Technology Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-based investment company specialising in digital assets, according to Reuters.

The Bank stated that it is actively seeking to establish partnerships with Hong Kong digital asset experts and is launching a cryptocurrency exchange committed to developing digital assets.

The new partnership will target the European market as a customer base and be anchored in the United Kingdom. This year, they plan to start operations in Q4 to help institutional traders conduct digital currency transactions led by Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The head of SC Ventures, Alex Manson, said that:

 "We have a strong conviction that digital assets are here to stay and will be adopted by the institutional market as a highly relevant asset class."

At the same time, Manson also revealed that they are focusing on building a safe and reliable investment infrastructure to establish the foundation for the future.

However, HSBC, one of the major competitors of Standard Chartered, has an entirely different attitude towards digital currencies.

Last month on May 24, Noel Quinn, the CEO of HSBC, accepted an interview with Reuters and claimed that HSBC has no plan to offer cryptocurrency investments to their clients by starting a crypto trading desk due to the volatile environment and uncertain transparency.

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