Coinbase, Standard Chartered Boost Tie-Up With Institutional Digital Asset Services

Singapore expansion

News of the tie-up follows last month's announcement that Standard Chartered Singapore will team up with Coinbase Business to offer real-time SGD transfers for Coinbase’s clients, marking the exchange's first foray outside the US. 

The latest venture scales up infrastructure for institutions seeking to go beyond traditional finance systems to access regulated digital assets. For Standard Chartered – formed by the merger of two banks founded in the 19th century – the tie-up brings it deeper into the fast-growing digital asset sector. It recently collaborated with 21shares, a major issuer of crypto exchange traded products as a custodian.

Compliant solutions

“Our growing relationship with Coinbase further strengthens our ability to develop secure and compliant digital asset solutions for institutional investors,” said Margaret Harwood-Jones, the bank's global head of financing and securities services. She said that Standard Chartered brought its cross-border trading and custody expertise to Coinbase’s “advanced digital-asset capabilities” and global market reach.

Coinbase has inked a series of collaborations with other banks, including PNC Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Citi as it seeks to diversify its revenue streams outside of its exchange trading and position itself as a key digital infrastructure provider in the crypto economy.

Treasury trade bust

The Standard Chartered move comes as its own internal research veered off previously ultra-bullish Bitcoin forecasts. Last week, the bank slashed its price target for 2026 by half, based on the dismantling of  the "corporate treasury" model, where the accumulation of crypto for corporate balance sheets had driven market prices higher. 

Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s head of digital asset research, cut his end-2026 Bitcoin target to $150,000 from a previous forecast of $300,000.