Standard Chartered PLC is reportedly seeking to fully acquire Zodia Custody Ltd. to merge it with one of its digital asset divisions, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
The ‘restructuring’ plan, which could come as soon as this month, considers merging Zodia’s crypto custody business into one of the investment bank’s divisions that provide similar services, the sources told Bloomberg.
The sources also said that Standard Chartered is considering allowing Zodia Custody to continue to operate as a separate software-as-a-service (SAAS) business for cryptocurrency custody.
The people close to the negotiations have not clarified whether Standard Chartered has approached Zodia Custody’s minority shareholders, which include Northern Trust Corp., Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, National Australia Bank Ltd., according to Bloomberg. and SBI Holdings Inc.
Emirates NBD and Northern Trust declined to comment, while SBI Holdings and NAB did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Bloomberg wrote.
Standard Chartered told CoinDesk it would not comment on news of the potential takeover. Zodia did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
Standard Chartered has expanded its digital asset footprint in recent years. The bank launched its own digital asset custody services out of Luxembourg last January and introduced crypto trading to institutional clients last summer, becoming one of the first global banks to offer spot bitcoin and ether trading.
Banks have increased their digital asset activities as regulatory clarity improves in key regions such as the US and Europe. Crypto custody in particular has become a competitive battleground, with firms including State Street, BNY Mellon and Morgan Stanley expanding their presence, with Morgan Stanley recently naming Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians for a proposed bitcoin ETF.
Zodia, which targeted financial institutions and began managing emeralds in June 2025, raised $18.5 million in a Series A funding round last July to expand and develop its stablecoin payment services.
The firm was originally established in 2020 as a joint venture between Standard Chartered and Northern Trust and has since raised external capital several times. Zodia Custody employs around 150 people across seven offices in London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Singapore, UAE, Sydney and Hong Kong.
