Standard Chartered and OKX have joined hands to expand their business to the European Economic Area (EEA). This move comes after their successful expansion in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this year.
In their announcement in a post on X, they said that the move is a big step forward in their joint effort to give institutional investors around the world safe, legal, and effective digital asset solutions.
The partnership began in April 2025 in the UAE with the launch of OKX’s collateral mirroring program, which was the first of its kind and aimed to improve risk management and lower counterparty exposure. With this model, OKX’s institutional clients can trade digital assets while keeping their money safe off-exchange with Standard Chartered, which acts as an independent, regulated custodian.
By expanding this custody partnership to Europe, the two companies are now offering institutions a full-service value chain, from execution to custody, all under a clear set of rules. The integration will let institutional clients in the EEA use OKX’s trading infrastructure while still getting the high level of security and trust that Standard Chartered offers for custody and asset protection.
“The expansion of our custody to the EEA is a big step forward in our work with OKX,” said
Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Financing and Securities Services, Margaret Harwood-Jones, said that the bank’s expansion shows how important it is becoming in institutional digital finance. “We are committed to providing the highest levels of security and compliance for our institutional clients in Europe by using our existing custody infrastructure and OKX’s regulatory framework.”
Europe’s reliance on MiCA license
OKX’s European operations are backed by its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license, which sets up a consistent set of rules for crypto activities across the region. The MiCA license was acquired by OKX in March.
At the start of this month, OKX also teamed up with Binance to roll out crypto payment cards in Brazil. OKX introduced OKX Pay, a digital account denominated in U.S. dollars and backed by stablecoins, alongside the OKX Card. Binance relaunched its Binance Card in partnership with Mastercard. The card converts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether into Brazilian reais at the point of sale. It will be accepted across merchants within the Mastercard network, according to the exchange.
OKX’s partnership with various financial institutions globally indicates its OKX’s commitment is to getting more institutions to use digital assets by focusing on security, compliance, and innovation.