SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered's international banking corporation, is developing a digital asset custody solution aimed at institutional investors.
SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson said the solution is scheduled to be tested this year. He also added that the lack of reliable custodian services hinders the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies among financial institutions. More than 20 organizations are already interested in SC Ventures solution. Despite the fact that the service will be registered in the UK, customers from all over the world will be able to use it.
SC Ventures originally planned to create a cryptocurrency trading platform. However, later the developers decided that this was inappropriate - it is difficult for institutional investors to attract digital assets to the market without a custodian service. Manson stated that existing cryptocurrency storage solutions do not provide the required level of security for firms that store millions of dollars in digital assets.
“For digital currencies to become widespread, an infrastructure is needed to safeguard institutional funds,” Manson said.
Last week, SC Ventures entered its Series A funding round by investing in digital asset custodian firm Metaco. Manson said the partnership will help develop SC Ventures' own custodian initiative as Metaco becomes a key technology provider.
Recall that Standard Chartered began studying blockchain back in 2015, and in November last year it joined the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA) to present its financial proposals in the markets of 60 countries.