Standard Chartered and GFO-X partner to provide institutional clients with a custody solution for using digital assets as collateral in a fully cleared model – a world-first in regulated and centrally cleared digital asset derivatives

• The partnership will provide GFO-X’s institutional clients with a custody solution for using digital assets as collateral towards positions, held in a fully centrally cleared model, with Standard Chartered acting as an independent, regulated custodian.
• The Go live is expected in the second half of 2026.

09 December 2025, Abu Dhabi and London – Standard Chartered, a leading cross-border international banking group, and GFO-X, operator of the UK’s first FCA-regulated and centrally cleared digital asset derivatives trading venue, today announced a partnership to provide collateral management and custodian services for digital assets to support the development of GFO-X Abu Dhabi CCP Limited.

Under the partnership, Standard Chartered and GFO-X will work together to enable institutional clients to utilise cryptocurrencies, tokenised money market funds, and other forms of digital assets as collateral for trading in a fully centrally cleared and credit intermediated model. By using a leading cross-border international bank such as Standard Chartered as the custodian for their collateral, this initiative significantly enhances security and capital efficiency for institutional clients.

In September 2025, Global Futures and Options Abu Dhabi Exchange Limited and GFO-X Abu Dhabi CCP Limited (together, GFO-X AD) announced that it had received In-Principle Approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM to operate as a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) and a Recognised Clearing House (RCH) for digital assets and related derivatives. This approval has recently been extended to include securities and ETFs.

To enhance risk management and reduce counterparty exposure, GFO-X AD CCP will enable institutional clients to use a secure off-exchange custody solution provided by Standard Chartered, acting as an independent, regulated custodian.

Arnab Sen, CEO and Co-Founder of GFO-X, commented: "We are delighted to partner with Standard Chartered to build the market structure institutions have been waiting for. Allowing institutional clients to post digital assets as collateral will unlock a significant amount of pent-up demand for trading, in a fully credit intermediated format, in a highly regulated and cleared trading venue. Holding this collateral at a leading cross-border international bank is essential to enhancing risk management and reducing counterparty exposure."

Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head, Financing & Securities Services, Standard Chartered, said: “We are proud to support this world-first development in institutional digital-asset derivatives. Our partnership with GFO-X demonstrates how trusted institutions can help shape a secure and scalable market structure – one that combines robust custody with central clearing and credit intermediation to enhance risk management and unlock responsible long-term-growth across the digital-asset ecosystem”.