Standard Chartered may develop a crypto prime brokerage platform, a potential expansion of the bank’s digital asset ambitions as traditional financial institutions deepen their involvement in the sector.
The British multinational bank is in early-stage discussions to establish a crypto trading and prime brokerage platform under its venture capital arm, SC Ventures, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing unidentified sources. A timeline for a launch has not been finalized.
Standard Chartered has yet to confirm the plans. In July 2025, Standard Chartered launched trading services enabling institutions and corporations to trade the leading cryptocurrencies.
Cointelegraph reached out to the bank for comment but had not received a response by publication time.
The development comes as big financial institutions increasingly test or expand crypto-related offerings. Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley filed to launch an Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Wednesday, marking its third crypto ETF filing.
Earlier this month, the second-largest US bank, Bank of America, approved four spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs for proactive recommendation through its network of over 15,000 wealth advisers.
Standard Chartered cuts medium-term Ether outlook
Despite its reported interest in expanding crypto services, Standard Chartered has trimmed its medium-term price outlook for Ether, citing broader weakness across digital asset markets.
Standard Chartered lowered its Ether price forecast to $7,500 for the end of 2026, down from its previously forecast $12,000, while lowering its end-2028 forecast to $22,000 from $25,000, according to a Monday report shared with Cointelegraph.
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“Weaker-than-expected Bitcoin performance has dampened prospects for all digital assets against the USD given Bitcoin’s continued dominance of the sector,” wrote Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.
The bank still expects Ether to surpass $40,000 by 2030, raising its long-term forecast from the previous $30,000 target.
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Looking at onchain data, whales, or large cryptocurrency investors, accumulated $16.5 million in Ether tokens across 324 wallets during the previous week, doubling their acquisition rate from the week before, according to crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
Still, the industry’s leading traders by returns, tracked as “smart money,” sold $7.13 million in spot ETH during the same period.
Ether has fallen 17% over the past three months and 5.4% in the past year to trade hands at $3,105 at the time of writing, according to Nansen data.
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