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Standard Chartered Analyst: Bitcoin Cycle Bottom Confirmed; Crypto Winter Officially Over
According to CoinDesk, Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick stated in a research report released on Friday that the bottom of Bitcoin’s current cycle has been confirmed at $59,000—representing a roughly 53% retracement from its all-time high of $126,000 reached on October 6—and declared, “The crypto winter is over; spring has arrived.”
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GSR Receives FINRA Approval to Complete Broker-Dealer Acquisition, Accelerating Expansion of Institutional Crypto Business in the U.S.
According to The Block, crypto market maker GSR has received approval from the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to formally complete its acquisition of Portland-based SEC-registered broker-dealer Equilibrium Capital Services, which has now been renamed GSR Securities. Xin Song, CEO of GSR, stated that this acquisition will strengthen its compliant broker-dealer platform in the U.S., with a focus on serving institutional clients. GSR previously disclosed plans to position its business as a “Web3 investment bank”; following the acquisition, it will further expand its tokenized financing services. Additionally, GSR has been highly active this year: in April, it launched the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF on Nasdaq; in March, it acquired token advisory firms Autonomous and Architech, and invested in Libeara—the tokenization platform under SC Ventures; last month, SC Ventures—the fintech investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank—became GSR’s first external shareholder and completed its investment.
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Zodia Custody Receives Luxembourg Payment Institution License, Expanding Stablecoin Service Footprint in the EU
: Institutional-grade digital asset custody platform Zodia Custody has announced that it has obtained a payment institution license from the Luxembourg financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). This authorization allows the company to compliantly provide custody and transfer services for electronic money tokens (EMTs, i.e., stablecoins) within the European Union.Zodia Custody stated that this approval represents a further expansion on its existing MiCA license, enhancing its digital asset service capabilities for institutional clients. The company believes that as the use of stablecoins in payment settlement, liquidity management, and corporate treasury operations continues to grow, stablecoin custody and transfer capabilities will become a core component of digital asset infrastructure providers.Founded in 2020, Zodia Custody focuses on the institutional client market. Its shareholders include institutions such as Standard Chartered, Northern Trust, SBI Holdings, Emirates NBD, and National Australia Bank. Following the approval of this Luxembourg license, Zodia Custody has now obtained relevant regulatory permissions in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, UAE, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Australia, and the EU. (The Block)
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Keyrock to Acquire Bankrupt Crypto Lender BlockFills for $3.25 Million, Subject to Court Approval
According to CoinDesk, Belgian digital asset services firm Keyrock plans to acquire bankrupt crypto trading and lending company BlockFills for $3.25 million. Keyrock has already been designated the “successful bidder” by the court, and final approval of the deal is pending at a hearing scheduled for June 16, 2026. BlockFills filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March this year under its parent company, Reliz Ltd., reporting liabilities between $100 million and $500 million, while holding assets valued at only $50 million to $100 million. This acquisition would grant Keyrock access to BlockFills’ institutional client network—including hedge funds, asset management firms, market makers, and mining companies—as well as its proprietary technology and intellectual property. BlockFills processed over $60 billion in trading volume in 2025 and served approximately 2,000 institutional clients. Keyrock previously completed its Series C funding round, led by SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank, achieving a valuation of $1.1 billion.
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Standard Chartered Reiterates Long-Term Ethereum Price Target of $40,000
According to Decrypt, Standard Chartered analysts stated in a report released on Thursday that Ethereum’s current price does not yet reflect its growing network transaction activity or the rising total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi). The bank reiterated its price targets of $4,000 by year-end and $40,000 by the end of this decade. The institution noted that Ethereum has already established dominance in the stablecoin and tokenized asset sectors and stands to benefit from Wall Street’s ongoing migration toward digital asset infrastructure. The report also indicated that if real-world assets (RWA) grow 50-fold over the coming years, on-chain transaction volume and TVL on Ethereum could continue to reach new highs.
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Standard Chartered compares ETH to Amazon in 2001, maintains $4,000 year-end 2026 price target
Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered Bank, maintains his ETH price targets: $4,000 by end-2026 and $40,000 by end-2030.
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Coinbase Partners with Standard Chartered to Expand Multi-Currency Fiat On-Ramp
Coinbase has announced a partnership with Standard Chartered to expand global multi-currency funding on-ramps via Coinbase Prime, supporting Australian Dollar, Singapore Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Swiss Franc, Euro, and British Pound.Coinbase stated that this move will enhance capital efficiency, reduce foreign exchange friction, and enable institutional clients to seamlessly conduct global market operations on the same platform through Coinbase Prime.
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Hong Kong's first approved stablecoin HKDAP completes its first end-to-end transaction on the Ethereum public chain
Anchorpoint Financial, OSL Group, and PantherTrade have successfully completed the first end-to-end financial transaction of Hong Kong's first approved stablecoin, HKDAP, on the Ethereum public chain. This digital asset operates under the regulation of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.The technical execution of this transaction was jointly carried out by Anchorpoint Financial, a fintech firm backed by Standard Chartered Hong Kong, along with digital brokerage firms OSL Group and PantherTrade. During this blockchain test, participants directly converted traditional physical Hong Kong dollars into reserve assets, triggering the minting of on-chain digital balances. Upon completion of the transaction, the tokens were converted back to fiat bank balances through a redemption agreement. Standard Chartered provided the custodial architecture and trust services for this process.The stablecoin is scheduled to begin its phased public issuance towards the end of the second quarter of this year. (financefeeds)
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Standard Chartered CEO: Will Replace “Low-Value Human Capital” with AI; Plans to Cut More Than 15% of Support Roles by 2030
According to Bloomberg, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters stated on May 19 that the bank will advance its adoption of artificial intelligence to replace “low-value human capital,” a move expected to eliminate thousands of jobs. On the same day, Standard Chartered announced plans to streamline operations by expanding AI applications across its business, aiming to cut more than 15% of support roles by 2030. As of the end of 2025, approximately 52,000 employees—located across India, China, Poland, Singapore, and Hong Kong—will hold such support positions.
Standard Chartered Plans to Cut Over 7,000 Jobs by 2030
: Standard Chartered plans to cut over 7,000 jobs by 2030 as the bank increases its use of AI applications. (Cointelegraph)
Cointelegraph
Standard Chartered: Estimates Tokenized On-Chain Assets to Reach $4 Trillion by End of 2028
OdailyOdaily reports that Standard Chartered expects the market capitalization of tokenized on-chain assets to reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, split evenly between stablecoins and real-world assets.Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, stated that established DeFi protocols with strong risk metrics will be the primary beneficiaries. The composability of DeFi is a core advantage, citing BlackRock's BUIDL fund, which has approximately $2.85 billion in assets under management, as an example. BUIDL allows investors to earn yield while using the fund as collateral and maintaining liquidity. The passage of the Clarity Act is seen as a near-term catalyst accelerating the shift from traditional channels to DeFi.Data shows that Aave, the largest DeFi lending protocol, once ranked 38th among US banks in terms of asset size. Daily on-chain stablecoin lending volume stands between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. The lending product offered by Coinbase in partnership with Morpho has reached a loan size of $1.75 billion. (The Block)
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Standard Chartered to Acquire Cryptocurrency Custody Business of Its Subsidiary Zodia Custody
According to Bloomberg, Standard Chartered plans to acquire the crypto custody business of its majority-owned subsidiary Zodia Custody Ltd. to expand the bank’s digital asset services. The announcement states that Standard Chartered’s non-binding acquisition offer has been accepted by Zodia Custody’s other shareholders and note holders. Bloomberg previously reported this transaction proposal in April.
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HKD-pegged stablecoin HKDAP has completed transfer testing on the Ethereum blockchain.
According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Anchor Point Financial—a Hong Kong stablecoin issuer jointly established by Standard Chartered Hong Kong, HKT, and Animoca Brands—announced that it has completed a transfer test for its Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin, HKDAP, on the Ethereum blockchain. This test covered the process of converting fiat Hong Kong dollars into reserve assets. All HKDAP tokens were fully redeemed following the completion of the transfer test. HKDAP is expected to be rolled out in phases later this year.
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Standard Chartered's venture arm, SC Ventures, invests in crypto market maker GSR at a valuation exceeding $1 billion
SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered, has invested in GSR, a crypto trading and market-making firm, valuing it at over $1 billion in this round. Founded in 2013 by former Goldman Sachs traders, GSR is currently in talks with strategic investors for further financing, potentially raising up to $150 million to expand its business operations.This investment marks SC Ventures' first time becoming an external shareholder of GSR. The two parties plan to collaborate on integrating traditional finance with the crypto market and enhancing the accessibility of tokenized products. GSR's business encompasses crypto trading, market making, advisory services, asset management, and venture capital. (Bloomberg)
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Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures makes strategic investment in GSR, becoming its first external shareholder
This investment further strengthens the partnership established between the two companies last month. GSR previously invested in Libeara, a tokenization platform backed by SC Ventures, as a key move to expand its crypto capital markets business. Earlier this year, GSR also acquired Autonomous and Architech to broaden its token lifecycle management services. Recently, GSR launched its first fund—the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF—the industry’s first actively managed, multi-asset crypto fund to enable staking.
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Visa Launches Global Visa Agentic Ready Program in Hong Kong to Support Institutions in Implementing AI Agent Payments
According to Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper, payment giant Visa has announced the launch of its global Visa Agentic Ready program in Hong Kong. Built upon Visa’s core network and integrated with tokenization technology, identity verification, risk management, and authorization mechanisms, the program supports institutions in implementing AI agent-based payments. The first group of participating institutions includes Bank of China (Hong Kong), DBS Bank (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, HSBC Hong Kong, Reap, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and ZA Bank.
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Stable Sea Integrates WisdomTree Tokenized Treasury Fund WTGXX for Corporate Cash Management
According to Cointelegraph, Stable Sea, an enterprise treasury management platform, has integrated WisdomTree’s tokenized U.S. Treasury money market fund WTGXX onto its platform, enabling corporate clients to allocate idle funds into the fund to generate returns. As of April 28, WTGXX’s total assets under management stood at $857.6 million, with a daily yield of 3.43%. WTGXX primarily invests in short-term U.S. Treasury securities; its shares are recorded on-chain, supporting faster settlement and automated trading. Stable Sea’s core functionality automatically sweeps corporate cash balances into yield-bearing instruments—and this integration extends that capability to tokenized funds. Clients remain subject to standard compliance review processes. Tokenized money market funds are now accelerating institutional adoption. WisdomTree has received SEC approval for 24/7 trading of WTGXX; Franklin Templeton is collaborating with Binance to promote tokenized fund shares as over-the-counter (OTC) collateral; and Standard Chartered has launched a framework enabling BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund to serve as collateral for trading on OKX.
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Standard Chartered: rsETH Security Incident Does Not Alter RWA Growth Thesis, Maintaining $2 Trillion Market Size Forecast
Standard Chartered Bank's latest report indicates that while the theft of KelpDAO's rsETH has severely impacted the DeFi ecosystem, it is insufficient to change the long-term growth trend of Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization. The bank maintains its forecast that the RWA tokenization market will grow from $35 billion in October 2025 to $2 trillion by the end of 2028, with the core drivers remaining the continued expansion of the DeFi banking system and stablecoin liquidity.Geoffrey Kendrick, Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, stated that this incident is more like DeFi being "bent, not broken," and could even serve as a significant turning point for the industry to move towards a more resilient structure. (The Block)
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Study Shows: Allocating Both Bitcoin and Gold in a Portfolio Can Enhance Returns Without Increasing Risk
According to CNBC, a new study shows that adding Bitcoin to traditional gold allocations can effectively boost overall portfolio returns without significantly increasing risk levels. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs released a report stating that cryptocurrency prices may have already bottomed out, and some related stocks offer strong investment appeal; Standard Chartered revised its Bitcoin price forecast downward by half; and analysts noted that, amid the recent sustained downturn in the crypto market, Bitcoin mining profitability has sharply narrowed, making mining unprofitable under current conditions.
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Circle CEO: There Is a “Huge Opportunity” for RMB-Backed Stablecoins; China May Launch One Within 3–5 Years
According to The Block, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated in an interview with Reuters that there is a “huge opportunity” for a renminbi (RMB)-backed stablecoin. If Chinese authorities wish to enhance the RMB’s global competitiveness, stablecoins could serve as a key technological tool for currency internationalization, and he predicted China may launch an RMB-backed stablecoin within the next three to five years. Notably, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and multiple other regulatory bodies explicitly prohibited, as of February 2026, the issuance of RMB-backed stablecoins outside mainland China without prior regulatory approval. In contrast, Hong Kong’s regulatory stance is markedly different: last week, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued the first stablecoin licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial—a joint venture among Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands, and Hong Kong Telecom.
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