Key Takeaways
- • Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has positioned DeFi research as core infrastructure within its digital-asset access franchise, alongside ETF access and stablecoin services, rather than as side commentary on Bitcoin.
- • The bank's May slides chart DeFi total value locked rising from about $15 billion in 2020 to $53 billion in 2023 and $114 billion in 2025, with lending taking a growing share.
- • The bank projects tokenized real-world assets scaling toward systemic size by 2028, split across listed equities, money market funds, other funds, and remaining categories.
- • Standard Chartered frames itself as a network-agnostic "super-connector" across public, permissioned, private, and central-bank digital-currency rails, with the stated aim of defending core banking revenue and supporting cross-sell.
- • The access stack spans custody through Financing and Securities Services and Zodia Custody, execution via an institutional trading desk live since July 2025 and Zodia Markets, tokenization via its platform and Libeara, and stablecoin access via Anchorpoint.
Summary
Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) is building research into the access layer of its digital-asset business, treating decentralized finance analysis as infrastructure rather than supplementary commentary on Bitcoin. This year the bank placed a dedicated digital assets research desk alongside ETF access and stablecoin services under the heading of how clients reach digital assets as an asset class.
The bank's materials cite an internal "DeFi 101" note as a source for projections on tokenized real-world assets, and track total value locked in on-chain lending and other protocols as evidence that financial intermediation is being reshaped. The presentation argues that as digital money and on-chain rails scale, banks acting as trusted connectors in client flows can capture a disproportionate share of activity. Research, in this framing, helps clients understand what they are being offered, not only where to custody or trade it.
The bank describes its path in three stages: exploration from 2016 to 2021, including early investments and an initial digital-asset risk framework; institutional build-out from 2021 to 2025, covering group-wide risk management, on-chain analytics, custody within securities services, crypto trading in markets, and ventures in trading, custody, and tokenization; and, from 2026, scaling and integration across its footprint. The current phase covers custody of crypto and tokenized assets, institutional trading and brokerage, payments across stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central-bank digital currencies, and tokenization of real-world assets.
The May slides state that on-chain protocols are reshaping lending and liquidity, charting DeFi total value locked from about $15 billion in 2020 to $53 billion in 2023 and $114 billion in 2025. They also point to large financial institutions extending into access and distribution, including BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF and the integration of its BUIDL tokenized treasury fund into Uniswap for distribution and trading. A separate chart, partly sourced to the bank's DeFi research, projects tokenized real-world assets scaling toward systemic size by 2028.
The research desk is one component of a wider access stack. Custody of tokenized securities and crypto runs through Financing and Securities Services and Zodia Custody. Execution includes an institutional corporate and investment banking trading desk live since July 2025 and Zodia Markets brokerage. Tokenization is tied to the bank's platform and to Libeara, and stablecoin access is routed through Anchorpoint. The stated goal is to let clients access, transact in, and hold digital assets inside the bank, and to convert those relationships into a larger share of client activity, defending core banking revenue while opening new market access.
The bank's materials cite an internal "DeFi 101" note as a source for projections on tokenized real-world assets, and track total value locked in on-chain lending and other protocols as evidence that financial intermediation is being reshaped. The presentation argues that as digital money and on-chain rails scale, banks acting as trusted connectors in client flows can capture a disproportionate share of activity. Research, in this framing, helps clients understand what they are being offered, not only where to custody or trade it.
The bank describes its path in three stages: exploration from 2016 to 2021, including early investments and an initial digital-asset risk framework; institutional build-out from 2021 to 2025, covering group-wide risk management, on-chain analytics, custody within securities services, crypto trading in markets, and ventures in trading, custody, and tokenization; and, from 2026, scaling and integration across its footprint. The current phase covers custody of crypto and tokenized assets, institutional trading and brokerage, payments across stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central-bank digital currencies, and tokenization of real-world assets.
The May slides state that on-chain protocols are reshaping lending and liquidity, charting DeFi total value locked from about $15 billion in 2020 to $53 billion in 2023 and $114 billion in 2025. They also point to large financial institutions extending into access and distribution, including BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF and the integration of its BUIDL tokenized treasury fund into Uniswap for distribution and trading. A separate chart, partly sourced to the bank's DeFi research, projects tokenized real-world assets scaling toward systemic size by 2028.
The research desk is one component of a wider access stack. Custody of tokenized securities and crypto runs through Financing and Securities Services and Zodia Custody. Execution includes an institutional corporate and investment banking trading desk live since July 2025 and Zodia Markets brokerage. Tokenization is tied to the bank's platform and to Libeara, and stablecoin access is routed through Anchorpoint. The stated goal is to let clients access, transact in, and hold digital assets inside the bank, and to convert those relationships into a larger share of client activity, defending core banking revenue while opening new market access.
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