The banking giant said on Tuesday it has launched a digital assets trading service designed for its institutional clients, which has gone live with Bitcoin (XBT/USD) and “will soon be introducing non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) trading”.

Standard Chartered said the launch makes the group “the first global systemically important bank to offer deliverable spot cryptoasset trading for institutional clients including corporates, investors and asset managers”.

Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered, said: "Digital assets are a foundational element of the evolution in financial services. They’re integral to enabling new pathways for innovation, greater inclusion and growth across the industry.”

He added: “As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently within regulatory requirements."

The launch is the latest innovation in digital assets by the British banking giant which appointed in May a new head of digital assets for Europe and the Americas.

Standard Chartered offers digital assets custody through its corporate and investment banking arm, and through Zodia Custody which launched in 2021 backed by the group’s ventures arm and Northern Trust.

The banking group already offers digital assets trading with Zodia Markets, a subsidiary of Standard Chartered that also launched in 2021.

Standard Chartered was in December one of four banks that backed GFO-X ahead of the London-based crypto derivatives exchange’s launch in May.

StanChart said on Tuesday the new offering is integrated with the group’s established foreign exchange trading platform and offers multiple custodians rather than just its own service.

Tony Hall, global head of Trading and XVA, Markets at Standard Chartered, said: "With growing interest in regulated digital assets solutions, we are well positioned to meet client needs while capturing the opportunities in this space."