Customary Chartered-owned crypto platform Zodia launches in Hong Kong

Zodia, the institutional cryptocurrency custody platform co-owned by British banking big Customary Chartered, Japanese SBI Holdings and the monetary agency Northern Belief, is increasing its companies to Hong Kong.

Zodia Custody is launching companies in Hong Kong in response to rising demand for crypto from establishments, Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer said, in line with a CNBC report on Oct. 29.

In keeping with Sawyer, the crypto demand in Hong Kong is especially pushed by institutional traders somewhat than retail prospects, ideally matching Zodia’s crypto custody providing. He additionally talked about that Hong Kong’s stance on crypto aligns with Zodia’s ambitions because the native authorities “sees digital property as the long run and in addition needs Hong Kong to be a hub.”

Zodia’s launch in Hong Kong comes because the agency aggressively scales operations in Asia, opening companies in Japan, Singapore and Australia in latest months.

“What we’re seeing is there are completely shoppers in all of these 4 markets who wish to do issues,” Zodia CEO mentioned, including:

“We additionally see numerous different shoppers and prospects exterior these 4 jurisdictions that wish to are available on the institutional aspect.”

In keeping with the report, Zodia will progressively roll out its companies in Hong Kong, initially providing assist for a restricted variety of cryptocurrency property. The agency is reportedly in discussions with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee and Hong Kong Financial Authority about turning into regulated within the monetary district, the report notes.

Associated: Hong Kong securities regulator updates crypto policies, citing market developments

Zodia didn’t instantly reply to Cointelegraph’s request for remark.

As beforehand reported, Standard Chartered originally announced plans to launch an institutional custodial platform for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in late 2020. Launched in 2021, Zodia raised $36 million in a Series A funding round led by SBI Holdings in April 2023. The platform supports 38 cryptocurrencies, together with BTC, Ether (ETH) in addition to stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC).

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