Every single bank will soon need to hold digital assets, says Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer
Julian Sawyer said Standard Chartered’s planned full acquisition of Zodia Custody validates a broader shift: banks need proven, bank-grade software to safely provide institutional digital asset custody. He argued crypto infrastructure is maturing beyond trading into tokenized real-world assets and stablecoin payments, which requires trust, compliance, and scale that banks already understand. Demand from banks and other institutions is rising quickly, and he said every bank will need a way to hold digital assets. The deal is expected to sign by the end of June and close by the end of August. Under the plan, Standard Chartered’s existing digital custody operations in Dubai, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong will merge into Zodia Custody and later into Standard Chartered’s brand. A new company, Zodia Solutions, will retain the software and infrastructure business with backing from existing bank shareholders. Sawyer also said regulation is evolving unevenly across regions, with notable progress in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi, and that crypto is increasingly moving toward banking because of KYC and AML requirements.
