The venture division of Standard Chartered (STAN) and SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial services company, are forming an investment company with $100 million in funding specifically aimed at targeting cryptocurrency startups.
According to an email on Thursday, the Digital Asset Joint Venture investment company from SC Ventures and SBI Holdings will be based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and target companies in the market infrastructure, risk and compliance, decentralised finance (DeFi), and tokenization domains.
The UAE has become the focus of Standard Chartered’s cryptocurrency operations, and in the first quarter of 2024, the company will begin protecting digital assets for institutional clients in Dubai. One of the main reasons businesses choose to establish operations in the region is the more developed regulatory framework compared to other jurisdictions, the company has stated.
September saw the in-principle approval of Zodia Markets, a digital asset marketplace supported by SBI Holdings and primarily owned by Standard Chartered, to operate as a crypto broker-dealer in Abu Dhabi.