According to reports, decentralized fund sales platform FundsDLT has announced that it has reached an agreement with Standard Chartered Bank. Standard Chartered Bank will use FundsDLT's regulated, cloud-based and blockchain-based transfer agent software to improve efficiency and transparency. The initial integration phase will be launched in the Middle East and North Africa, enabling Standard Chartered Bank to enhance its services to investment funds and asset management companies.

Standard Chartered's investment and innovation arm, SC Ventures, has launched a tokenization platform called Libeara. The platform has been incubated as a separate company based in Singapore and aims to enable fund managers, governments, and issuers to bring real-world assets on-chain or issue "regulated security tokens." Libeara has partnered with FundBridge Capital to create the first tokenized Singapore-dollar government bond fund. Tokenization is an emerging trend in the crypto space, with major players in traditional financial services such as HSBC, UBS Asset Management, and Citi also launching their own platforms.

SC Ventures, the investment department of Standard Chartered Bank, and Japanese financial group SBI Holdings have partnered to establish a cryptocurrency company worth $100 million in the United Arab Emirates. The two companies announced on Thursday that the company plans to invest in cryptocurrency in areas such as decentralized finance, tokenization, infrastructure, payments, and virtual worlds as a joint venture. Its goal is to invest globally, covering seed rounds to Series C financing.

Zodia Custody, a cryptocurrency security company owned by Standard Chartered Bank, announced that it is launching its services in Hong Kong. Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia, said that the demand for cryptocurrencies in the Hong Kong market is driven by institutions rather than retail customers. The Hong Kong government and regulatory authorities view digital assets as the future and hope that Hong Kong will become a center for them. The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong launched a regulatory regime for digital assets earlier this year, allowing companies to apply for registration and provide services in a regulated manner. Zodia is starting its expansion in Hong Kong in phases. It will seek to provide limited cryptocurrency asset services to Hong Kong customers and discuss matters related to accepting regulation in the financial district with the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Zodia Markets, a digital asset exchange and brokerage platform backed by Standard Chartered, has been registered as a virtual asset service provider by the Central Bank of Ireland. This registration will allow the company to enter the EU market, according to Zodia Markets Ireland CEO Michael Walsh. The approval will enable the firm to provide OTC trading and exchange services to institutional clients in the EU, and highlights the company's commitment to comply with European regulators. This move comes ahead of the implementation of the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation in the EU, which will require the authorization and supervision of crypto asset service providers.