Standard Chartered’s Zodia Custody closes a $36 million raise

Zodia Custody, a cryptocurrency custody platform created by Standard Chartered towards the end of 2020, raised $36 million in a Series A funding round. The funding round attracted the participation of many investment companies, including the venture capital division of Standard Chartered.

Zodia Custody raises $36M in a Series A funding round

Zodia Custody is a platform that British banking giant, Standard Chartered, owns. Besides SC Ventures, the other companies participating in this funding round include Northern Trust Corporation, a financial service company based in Chicago, and SBI Holding, a Japanese financial services company.

Zodia Custody said that the new capital would be used to expand the company offerings, such as token coverage. It will also be used to add new features to Interchange. Interchange is a settlement product by the company designed to protect digital assets traded on cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

Zodia Custody published a LinkedIn post saying that the company believed in its investment in Interchange. The company noted that it was still committed to offering the best solutions to its clients investing in digital assets, adding that the move could drive innovation in the sector.

“We believe this investment is a vote of confidence in our team, technology, and vision for the future of digital assets. We remain committed to delivering best-in-class solutions to our clients and driving innovation in the industry, free of compromise,” the LinkedIn post read.

Zodia Custody has made additional efforts to support its digital asset business. The $36 million raise comes three months after the platform tapped the digital asset division at SBI Holding’s to launch crypto asset custody services. These services targeted institutional investors operating in Japan.

A report by crypto news publication CoinDesk said that SBI Digital Asset Holdings, which is the crypto division for SBI Holding’s, has the majority stake in the business SBI Holding’s holds a 51% stake in Zodia Custody, while Zodia Custody owns the remaining 49%. This indicates that the ownership of this company is in both the UK and Japan.

On the other hand, Zodia Custody is still looking to obtain a license from the Japanese Financial Services Agency. The platform must also secure an anti-trust and foreign direct investment clearance from Japanese regulators before investing in the country.

Zodia Markets unveils a crypto exchange

Zodia Markets, a digital asset marketplace targeting institutional investors, recently unveiled an institutional cryptocurrency exchange and brokerage platform. The launch was done after the company received regulatory approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

Zodia Markets is a platform that was created in 2021. The platform operates as a product of a partnership deal between SC Ventures and BC Technology Group, the latter being the parent company of OSL. OSL is the first regulated crypto exchange in Hong Kong.

This platform also provides enterprise-grade execution services for institutional investors. It also has FIX application programming interface (API) connectivity for crypto trading activities.