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Standard Chartered-led Anchorpoint initiative launches retail stablecoin in Hong Kong
According to reports from the South China Morning Post, Anchorpoint, a joint venture for stablecoin issuance spearheaded by Standard Chartered, plans to roll out a public blockchain stablecoin product for retail users in Hong Kong, though a specific launch date has not yet been confirmed. The company had previously indicated that the product could potentially be launched as early as the end of 2026. CEO Dominic Maffei stated that the team will adopt a prudent approach and will not rush the launch merely to meet timelines. The company aims to further integrate regulated digital currencies into everyday payments and commercial use cases, while bridging traditional payment infrastructure with the digital finance ecosystem.
Barclays Plans to Cut 5,000 Jobs, Doubling Down on AI Applications
Barclays CEO Venkat Krishnamurthy said on a conference call that the company would deploy AI at scale, stating that "AI is not the cake, but the icing on the cake." Barclays had previously announced a cost-cutting plan in February, but some investors reacted negatively to the cost base revealed in its half-year report. On the peer front, HSBC is considering cutting up to 20,000 jobs over the coming years, while Standard Chartered has targeted a reduction of more than 15% in support department roles by 2030.
Standard Chartered Signs Final Agreement to Acquire Zodia Custody, Plans to Spin Off Software Business
Standard Chartered has signed a final agreement to acquire 100% equity of crypto asset custody institution Zodia Custody, with the transaction still pending regulatory approval. Under the arrangement, Zodia Custody's custody business will be integrated into Standard Chartered, while its software business will be transferred to a standalone company backed by SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered. (The Block)
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Standard Chartered Bank Pushes Back $2 Trillion Stablecoin Market Cap Forecast to 2030
According to The Block, Standard Chartered Bank has pushed back its forecast for the stablecoin market to reach a $2 trillion scale from 2028 to 2030. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's Global Head of Digital Asset Research, stated that stablecoin supply has consistently hovered between $300 billion and $320 billion over the past 12 months, currently standing at approximately $309 billion. The stagnation in growth is viewed as a cyclical, rather than structural, issue. Despite the slowdown in supply growth, usage continues to climb—average monthly on-chain transfer volume neared $10 trillion in 2026, a significant increase from $4 trillion in 2025, with May alone recording a record-high $19 trillion in on-chain transfers. Stablecoin velocity has also doubled from 15x in 2025 to approximately 30x. Specifically, USDC velocity rose from 45x to 80x, primarily used for payments and AI agent-to-agent transactions; USDT velocity remains around 7x, mainly serving dollar savings demand in emerging markets. Kendrick noted that competition is most intense in mature market payments and traditional finance alternatives, with potential challengers including OUSD, stablecoin infrastructure provider M^0, and the multi-bank shared stablecoin network A+. On the regulatory front, the U.S. GENIUS Act is expected to take effect in January 2027, and its global rollout effectiveness will be a primary risk factor influencing the realization of the forecast.
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DriveWealth partners with Ripple to use RLUSD stablecoin for settlement and cross-border payments.
According to The Block, broker infrastructure company DriveWealth announced a partnership with Ripple to integrate Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin into its platform for cross-border settlement, stablecoin payments, and digital asset custody services. The collaboration will operate on the XRP Ledger, allowing clients to fund collateral accounts around the clock and supporting near-real-time conversion of stablecoins into cash. The partnership will initially launch in Europe before expanding to the United States, while both parties will also explore equity financing opportunities through Ripple Prime. This initiative further advances RLUSD's penetration into institutional financial infrastructure, with Standard Chartered Bank also announcing the launch of RLUSD custody services this week.
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Standard Chartered Receives UAE VARA License to Launch BTC and ETH Trading Services for Wealthy Clients
According to official disclosures, Standard Chartered announced that it has received approval from the UAE Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to officially launch cryptocurrency trading solutions for professional investors in the UAE. Eligible affluent clients can directly buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) through their existing bank accounts, without the need to set up a separate wallet or use third-party platforms.
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Standard Chartered Bank Launches RLUSD Custody Service, Partners with Ripple and LMAX to Advance Collateral Integration
Standard Chartered Bank has officially announced support for institutional custody services for Ripple USD (RLUSD) issued on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The service is offered through Standard Chartered Bank's DIFC branch and is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Concurrently, Standard Chartered Bank is partnering with Ripple and LMAX Group to incorporate RLUSD into LMAX Group's eligible collateral framework for its products. Through Standard Chartered Bank's collateral mirroring model, institutional clients can flexibly deploy digital assets for trading without directly transferring RLUSD to the trading venue, thereby reducing transfer operational risks, optimizing counterparty exposure, and enhancing capital efficiency. The aforementioned functionalities will go live only after final document execution, testing, and compliance approvals are completed.
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Liquidation Amount Exceeds $19 Billion, October 10 Becomes the Largest Liquidation Day in Crypto Industry History
Bitcoin News posted on X platform that one year ago today, Bitcoin had just hit an all-time high of $126,000, and Standard Chartered predicted at the time that it would reach $200,000. However, October 10 became the largest liquidation day on record in the crypto industry, with liquidation amounts exceeding $19 billion.
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Standard Chartered Bank plans to provide digital asset custody services to institutional investors in Singapore.
As reported by The Block, Standard Chartered Bank plans to provide crypto custody services to institutional investors in Singapore. The custody products will hold client assets in segregated accounts and provide legal protection comparable to that of traditional assets. The service is scheduled to roll out in other major financial centers, including the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong, beginning in mid-2026.
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OKX Star: Introducing strategic investors is not driven by funding needs, but rather focuses on long-term cooperation.
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu confirmed via a post on X that Circle, Ripple, and Standard Chartered Bank's investment arm SC Ventures have become investors in OKX. Star Xu stated that OKX did not introduce these investors out of funding needs, but rather to collaborate with strategic partners who share its long-term vision to advance stablecoins, payments, institutional markets, and next-generation financial infrastructure. Previously, Bloomberg reported that OKX’s valuation in this financing round reached $25 billion. The company has yet to disclose the exact funding amount.
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OKX Completes Funding Round at $25 Billion Valuation, with Standard Chartered and Circle Participating
Odaily News: According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency exchange OKX has completed a funding round at a $25 billion valuation, with Standard Chartered and Circle participating in this funding round.
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Standard Chartered Predicts: Ethena USDe to Reach $40 Billion
According to Cointelegraph, Standard Chartered Bank's latest research report predicts that the supply of Ethena's USDe will reach $40 billion by the end of 2028, with a target price of $2 for the ENA token.
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Standard Chartered Initiates Coverage of ENA, Expects $2 by End of 2028
Odaily News: Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of Ethena's token ENA, forecasting its price will reach $2 by the end of 2028. The bank believes that Ethena sits at the intersection of perpetual contracts, tokenization, and stablecoins, and that ENA will benefit from growth in these sectors as well as its newly launched buyback program.Standard Chartered stated that Ethena is currently the fourth-largest stablecoin issuer after Tether, Circle, and Sky, and the second-largest interest-bearing stablecoin issuer after Sky; its USDe is the fastest stablecoin to reach $10 billion in market cap.
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Chainlink Launches Connectivity Framework, 17 Banks Prepare for SWIFT Ledger Pilot
Odaily News: Chainlink announced on September 28 the launch of a connectivity framework that allows banks to connect to the SWIFT blockchain ledger through the Chainlink platform while retaining transaction signing keys. The framework coordinates institutional systems' interactions with the ledger via the Chainlink runtime environment, and banks adopting the self-signing model do not need to hand over authorization keys to Chainlink.The SWIFT ledger supports 24/7 tokenized deposit payments, with final settlement still completed through existing mechanisms such as real-time gross settlement. Seventeen banks from six continents, including ANZ, HSBC, Citi, Standard Chartered, and UBS, are preparing to conduct tokenized deposit pilots on the SWIFT ledger.
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Standard Chartered expects ARB to reach $10 by 2030, with Arbitrum's monthly revenue potentially hitting $5 million
Odaily News: Geoff Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, stated that ARB is expected to reach $10 by the end of 2030. The forecast uses $0.14 as a reference price, approximately 48 times the current price of $0.21; its annual targets also include $0.5 in 2026, $1.5 in 2027, $3.5 in 2028, and $6.5 in 2029.Arbitrum's monthly revenue for September is projected to reach $5 million, representing a more than 5x increase from before Robinhood Chain's launch. Robinhood Chain launched its public chain mainnet on July 1 based on the Arbitrum platform, targeting tokenized assets and decentralized finance applications; under the Expansion Program, 10% of protocol net revenue is returned to the Arbitrum ecosystem, with 8% going to the ArbitrumDAO treasury and 2% supporting the Arbitrum Developer Guild.ARB is an ERC-20 governance token used for voting on ArbitrumDAO proposals. It currently does not represent on-chain asset ownership, nor is there a mechanism for directly capturing Arbitrum revenue. Standard Chartered noted that a slowdown in the tokenization process, competing blockchains, and ARB's lack of a direct value capture mechanism are the main risks facing this forecast. (Bitcoin.com News)
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HuaXia Fund Hong Kong Completes First HKD-Pegged Stablecoin HKDAP Digital Asset Investment Use Case
According to Sing Tao Daily, ChinaAMC (Hong Kong) announced that it has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank and others to complete Hong Kong's first use case of an HKD stablecoin (HKDAP) investing in digital assets. This demonstrates how regulated HKD stablecoins can be integrated with digital financial assets within a compliant and regulatory framework, providing investors with more diversified investment options. HKDAP is an HKD stablecoin issued by Hong Kong-licensed stablecoin issuer Anchor Point Finance, spearheaded by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).
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Tokenized Stocks Market Poised to Grow 250x, Entering a New Phase by 2028
Odaily News: According to a latest research report by Standard Chartered, the tokenized stocks market is projected to grow approximately 250 times by 2028. The bank believes that Arbitrum's business model is expected to help traditional financial institutions migrate assets and operations on-chain, and benefit from the development of tokenized stocks and other real-world assets.As of early September, the tokenized stocks market size was approximately $2.9 billion, making it one of the fastest-growing asset categories in the real-world assets sector.
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Zodia Custody CEO Julian Sawyer Steps Down, Transitions to Strategic Advisor
Odaily News: Institutional crypto asset custodian Zodia Custody has announced that CEO Julian Sawyer is stepping down from his role as CEO and transitioning to strategic advisor. Sawyer stated that with Standard Chartered planning to acquire Zodia's custody business and establish Zodia Solutions, this is an appropriate time for a handover of day-to-day management.Zodia Custody Chief Revenue Officer Richard Clark will oversee the business transition to Standard Chartered and take over the custody business; current executives Craig Perrin and Anoosh Arevshatian will be responsible for building Zodia Solutions. The previous plan had Sawyer serving as CEO of Zodia Solutions, marking an adjustment from the arrangement announced in May.Zodia Custody stated that the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Headquartered in London, the company provides digital asset custody, wallet infrastructure, staking, and over-the-counter settlement services to financial institutions and asset management firms. (CoinDesk)
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Standard Chartered: SKY Token Could Reach $0.325 in 2028
According to Cointelegraph, Standard Chartered Bank published a report providing first-time coverage of the SKY token from the decentralized finance platform Sky, assigning it a year-end 2028 target price of $0.325. This represents an approximate fivefold increase from the $0.065 reference price cited in the report. Geoff Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, compared Sky to a "federal bank," noting its issuance of stablecoins, establishment of governance frameworks, and charging of wholesale interest rates to borrowers.
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Standard Chartered expects SKY token to rise to $0.325 by end of 2028, five times the current price
Odaily News: UK bank Standard Chartered has initiated coverage on Sky's SKY token, setting an end-of-2028 target price of $0.325, representing a fivefold increase from the $0.065 cited in the report. The bank expects that as USDS adoption and lending capacity expand, the value Sky passes on to token holders by 2028 will reach more than five times the current level.Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered's Global Head of Digital Asset Research, said Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that can issue stablecoins, establish governance frameworks, and charge wholesale rates to borrowers, making it similar to a "federal bank." Sky primarily returns value to SKY holders through staking rewards, with token buybacks accounting for a smaller proportion.Sky is the world's third-largest stablecoin issuer, behind only Tether and Circle, and also the largest issuer of yield-bearing stablecoins. Standard Chartered expects SKY to roughly track Ether's performance and outperform Bitcoin through 2028; the bank projects Ether and Bitcoin prices to reach $18,000 and $300,000 respectively over the same period. DeFiLlama data shows that Sky's yield-bearing sUSDS token has a total value locked of $4.5 billion, with an annualized yield of 3.6%. (Cointelegraph)
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