Crypto exchange OKX and Standard Chartered, a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB), have extended their custody partnership into the European Economic Area (EEA).
This collaboration allows institutional clients to use a “mirroring” model: clients can trade on OKX while securely holding their digital assets in Standard Chartered’s custody. This setup, which separates the functions of trading and custody, is common in traditional finance but less frequent in crypto, directly addressing the counterparty risk concerns that arose after the 2022 FTX collapse.
Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, stated that the arrangement offers “bank-grade security” combined with direct exchange access. The partnership is further underpinned by OKX’s MiCA license, providing the necessary regulatory clarity for European institutions.
Margaret Harwood-Jones of Standard Chartered emphasized that combining the bank’s established infrastructure with OKX’s regulatory framework delivers secure and compliant solutions. This expansion highlights the bank’s confidence as the “first and only G-SIB” to directly partner with a crypto exchange in this capacity. OKX is not alone in pursuing this risk-mitigation model, with other major platforms also developing similar off-exchange custody solutions.
October 2025, Cryptoniteuae
