OKX expands custody partnership with Standard Chartered into Europe, letting clients trade while keeping assets off exchange

Crypto exchange OKX has expanded its custody partnership with Standard Chartered into the European Economic Area, introducing a model that lets institutional clients trade on OKX while keeping their assets in the bank's custody. 

The move extends a program first launched in the UAE earlier this year, creating a barrier between trading and custody that is standard practice in traditional finance, but not as common in crypto. Traders have been seeking to mitigate the risk of holding assets on crypto trading platforms in general following the FTX debacle in 2022, which left billions of dollars trapped in bankruptcy proceedings.

Through the collaboration, institutional clients can hold assets with Standard Chartered — a Global Systemically Important Bank — while mirroring those balances on OKX for trading. This approach is designed to reduce counterparty risk and give clients the ability to access liquidity and trading opportunities without transferring custody of their assets to the exchange.

Bank-grade protection for digital assets

The model offers bank-grade security with direct exchange access, allowing clients to trade within a more protected framework, OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos said in a statement, adding that OKX's MiCA license provides the regulatory clarity institutions need to deploy capital confidently.

"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 the growing trust of regulators in this model," he said.

Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head of Financing and Securities Services at Standard Chartered, said the combination of the bank's established custody infrastructure with OKX's regulatory framework will deliver secure and compliant solutions for institutional clients in Europe.

OKX previously partnered with Komainu to provide a similar custody arrangement for institutional clients in 2024. However, it's not the only crypto platform looking at such off-exchange solutions, with Deribit, Binance, and Bitget also announcing plans in recent years.