Standard Chartered brings digital asset custody to Singapore as Anchorage opens USD accounts: the city's institutional crypto week

In the week Singapore hosted TOKEN2049, the largest annual gathering of the crypto industry, the city's banks made the more consequential announcements. Standard Chartered said on 8 October that it plans to offer custody for selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets in Singapore, for institutional clients and accredited investor corporate clients, subject to applicable regulatory requirements. Two days earlier, Anchorage Digital Singapore began offering eligible institutional clients US dollar accounts and SWIFT transfers in partnership with the same bank.

Separately, Australian exchange Independent Reserve launched fiat and stablecoin cross-border payments for businesses in Singapore. Taken together, the announcements show where institutional crypto in Asia is heading. The trading venues get the headlines, but the money moves through custodians, settlement banks and payment rails that look increasingly like traditional finance.

What Standard Chartered plans to offer

The planned Singapore service would bring digital asset custody together with the bank's traditional asset servicing, under its Financing and Securities Services business. That means an institution could hold tokenised assets, stablecoins and selected cryptoassets with the same bank that already safekeeps its bonds and equities, rather than with a separate specialist custodian.

The bank already runs digital asset custody in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong, so Singapore extends an existing capability rather than starting from scratch. It has also backed Zodia Custody, an institutional digital asset custodian, through its venture arm. The bank did not give a launch date, and the service remains subject to regulatory requirements.

Patrick Lee, CEO for Singapore and for ASEAN and South Asia, called Singapore an important centre for financial innovation and cited growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions. He said robust infrastructure is needed to safely move, hold and service tokenised assets at institutional scale. Ole Matthiessen, global head of transaction services and digital assets, said secure and regulated custody is a critical foundation of the digital asset ecosystem.

Standard Chartered is also custodian for BlackRock's tokenised Treasury fund, BUIDL, which anchors a collateral framework developed with OKX, and its venture arm joined OKX's latest funding round at a 25 billion dollar valuation, as we reported in our coverage of the OKX round. Few banks are as deeply embedded in the institutional crypto stack.

Anchorage brings dollar rails to Singapore

Anchorage Digital is a US crypto bank that holds a federal charter. Its Singapore entity now lets eligible institutional clients open US dollar accounts and make SWIFT transfers, with Standard Chartered as the partner bank, according to Fintech News Singapore on 6 October.

That solves one of the most persistent problems for crypto institutions in Asia: moving dollars in and out efficiently. Funds, market makers and corporates that trade digital assets need dollar accounts that connect to the banking system, and many have struggled to obtain them from banks wary of crypto exposure. A crypto-native firm partnering with a global bank to provide those accounts brings fiat and digital asset activity closer together.

Anchorage has been expanding its payments capabilities. In the same week it announced the acquisition of Routable, a US payment orchestration platform that supports fiat and stablecoin payouts to more than 220 countries, a deal we examine separately later this week.

• Standard Chartered: planned custody for cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised RWAs in Singapore, subject to approvals.
• Anchorage Digital Singapore: institutional USD accounts and SWIFT transfers with Standard Chartered.
• Independent Reserve: fiat and stablecoin cross-border payments for Singapore businesses.
• Context: TOKEN2049 Singapore on 7 and 8 October.

The partnership also reflects a shift in how global banks view crypto-native firms. Rather than treating them as high-risk clients to be avoided, banks such as Standard Chartered are selecting a small number of well-regulated partners like Anchorage Digital and building services around them. That selective approach gives banks access to the market while keeping risk manageable.

Independent Reserve adds stablecoin payments

Independent Reserve, which holds a licence in Singapore and operates an exchange in Australia, launched a service allowing businesses to make cross-border payments in both fiat currency and stablecoins. For small and medium businesses that already hold stablecoins, or receive them from customers, the service offers a regulated route to pay suppliers abroad without converting through multiple intermediaries.

It reflects a broader trend. Stablecoins are increasingly used as a settlement layer for business payments in Asia, particularly in corridors where traditional transfers are slow or expensive. Licensed platforms in Singapore are positioning themselves as the bridge between that activity and the regulated financial system.

The common thread across all three announcements is regulation. Each service is offered through an entity operating under Singapore's framework, and each emphasises compliance as a selling point rather than a constraint.

Exchanges get the headlines. Custodians, settlement banks and payment rails decide where institutional money actually goes.

For finance teams, the attraction is speed and visibility. Stablecoin transfers settle in minutes rather than days, operate outside banking hours and leave a clear record on a public ledger. The challenge is converting at each end, which is where licensed platforms such as Independent Reserve aim to make the process feel like an ordinary business payment.

Why banks are becoming crypto's plumbing

Institutional investors have clear requirements before they allocate to digital assets: segregated custody with a regulated entity, reliable fiat on-ramps and off-ramps, robust reporting, and counterparties their risk committees recognise. Crypto-native firms can meet some of those requirements, but a global bank meets them by default.

That is why banks are moving from avoiding crypto to providing its infrastructure. Custody, settlement and tokenised deposits generate fee income without requiring the bank to take directional positions in volatile assets. They also position banks for the larger opportunity of tokenised traditional assets, from money market funds to bonds, which many expect to grow faster than cryptocurrencies themselves.

In Singapore, the trend extends beyond Standard Chartered. OCBC launched tokenised deposits for corporate treasury with Ant International in the same week, and local banks completed tokenised deposit transactions on Swift's ledger in September. Our report on Swift's blockchain ledger going live explains how that shared infrastructure works.

Competition among banks is also a factor. Standard Chartered, DBS, HSBC and others are racing to build digital asset capabilities in Asia, and early movers gain relationships with funds, family offices and corporates that are hard to dislodge. Being first with regulated custody in a market like Singapore can lock in clients for years.

What MAS rules mean for the plans

Singapore's regulatory framework is what makes these announcements possible, and what will shape how fast they happen. Custody of digital assets for institutional clients falls within the Monetary Authority of Singapore's licensing regime, and Standard Chartered was explicit that its plans depend on meeting applicable requirements.

MAS has also been tightening rules for digital token service providers and is consulting on amendments that would give its stablecoin framework legal force, with feedback due on 16 October 2026. A clear legal status for regulated stablecoins would make it easier for banks to hold and service them on behalf of clients.

The approach has trade-offs. Singapore's caution has pushed some retail-focused crypto businesses elsewhere, but it has attracted institutions that prefer predictable rules. The latest announcements suggest that bet is paying off in the segment MAS cares most about.

What institutions and fintechs should watch

The first signal will be timing. Standard Chartered did not give a launch date, and approvals can take months. A formal launch with named clients would confirm demand. Watch also for which assets the bank chooses to support at launch, as that list will reveal what institutional clients are asking for.

For fintechs and exchanges, bank-grade custody in Singapore changes the competitive landscape. Firms that previously offered custody as a differentiator will face competition from banks with larger balance sheets and existing client relationships. Many will choose to partner rather than compete, routing client assets to bank custodians while focusing on trading, payments or analytics.

For the region, Singapore's progress raises the bar. Institutions comparing Asian hubs will weigh Singapore's bank-backed infrastructure against Hong Kong's licensing regime and the Middle East's crypto-friendly frameworks. Southeast Asian markets with smaller institutional bases may find that their institutions simply route digital asset activity through Singapore.

Singapore's institutional crypto week was defined not by new tokens but by new plumbing. Standard Chartered's planned custody service, Anchorage's dollar accounts and Independent Reserve's stablecoin payments all extend regulated infrastructure into digital assets. For institutions, that removes some of the last practical barriers to participation. For crypto firms, it means competing with or partnering alongside banks that now want a central role in the market they once avoided.