Standard Chartered’s venture arm, SC Ventures, has partnered with Japan’s SBI Holdings to establish a digital asset joint venture investment company in the UAE.
The joint venture will aim to invest in various aspects of digital assets, including market infrastructure, risk and compliance tools, decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenization, consumer payments, and the metaverse. The two companies plan to provide $100 million in capital for this initiative.
Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures, commented, “The region is rapidly becoming a hub for fintechs in the digital asset space due to its regulatory environment, robust infrastructure, and available talent. This joint venture will utilize SC Ventures’ expertise in digital assets, highlighted by our involvement with Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, as well as our investments in fintech companies like Ripple and Metaco.”
In May 2023, Standard Chartered entered a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai International Financial Centre to collaborate on digital asset initiatives, including custody solutions. In the same month, SC Ventures divested its stake in the Swiss custody firm Metaco, as part of a $250 million deal with the US crypto firm Ripple. Ripple serves as a key client for SC Ventures.
The new fund intends to invest globally, targeting opportunities from seed stage to Series C funding rounds.