Standard Chartered has been appointed because the digital asset custodian and settlement agent for TP ICAP’s Fusion Digital Belongings platform, deepening the collaboration first introduced in October 2024.
The move helps TP ICAP because it expands matched-principal buying and selling in spot crypto belongings, marking a significant operational step for each companies.
Fusion Digital Belongings, operated by TP ICAP E&C Restricted and registered with the Monetary Conduct Authority for crypto-asset actions, permits institutional purchasers to commerce digital belongings on a UK-regulated alternate.
By way of the brand new association, shared purchasers can entry Customary Chartered’s regulated digital asset custody companies alongside Fusion Digital Belongings’ buying and selling infrastructure.
The timing of the appointment coincides with Fusion Digital Belongings’ transition to a matched-principal mannequin. Underneath this construction, TP ICAP acts as counterparty to either side of each commerce, requiring strong inner settlement and custody capabilities.
The mannequin eliminates prefunding necessities for purchasers, permits settlement post-execution, and makes use of multilateral netting to cut back gross settlement volumes, enhancing operational effectivity.
The custody association is agnostic on the shopper facet, enabling counterparties to ship belongings from their most popular custodian relatively than mandating Customary Chartered.
Margaret Harwood-Jones, World Head of Financing & Securities Companies at Customary Chartered, mentioned: “We’re happy to deepen our collaboration with TP ICAP, reinforcing our shared imaginative and prescient of bridging conventional and digital finance. Our custody and settlement options will allow TP ICAP to scale its matched principal exercise securely and effectively, assembly rising institutional demand.”
Duncan Trenholme, Managing Director and World Co-Head of Digital Belongings at TP ICAP, described the milestone as a key step within the agency’s digital asset technique. “With Customary Chartered’s help, we can settle blockchain-based belongings via our personal accounts for the primary time and supply a broader array of on-chain belongings and execution companies to purchasers,” he mentioned.
Customary Chartered and B2C2 companion
Earlier this 12 months, Customary Chartered and B2C2 announced a strategic partnership to boost institutional entry to crypto markets.
The collaboration combines Customary Chartered’s world banking infrastructure with B2C2’s liquidity throughout spot and choices buying and selling, permitting asset managers, hedge funds, corporates, and household workplaces direct connectivity to regulated banking and settlement companies.
The partnership is to streamline fiat-to-crypto transactions, providing sooner, extra dependable settlement whereas enabling establishments to commerce and handle each fiat and digital belongings effectively.
The transfer displays rising institutional adoption of digital belongings, significantly in Asia, and builds on Customary Chartered’s latest growth of regulated crypto companies, together with spot Bitcoin buying and selling via its UK department.
