FalconX, a digital asset prime broker, has formed a strategic partnership with Standard Chartered to serve institutional crypto clients.
Per a Reuters report, the collaboration would initially begin in Singapore, said Luke Boland, Asia head of fintech at StanChart. Later, it plans to expand within Asia and globally, including the Middle East and the US.
Matt Long, California-based FalconX’s general manager, told Reuters that the prime broker will leverage Standard Chartered’s slew of banking and foreign exchange services. This includes access to a wide range of currencies, he added.
“Our clients will be able to engage more efficiently in fiat currencies settlements, which means a lot faster settlement, better capital efficiency and overall reduced operational risk,” Long told Reuters.
Besides, FalconX’s clients include some of the leading asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds and family offices, he noted.
Standard Chartered Makes Several Predictions for This Year
A StanChart analyst last month predicted that the world’s largest crypto Bitcoin, would hit $120,000 by the second quarter. Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets at Standard Chartered, attributed the drive due to a “strategic asset reallocation away from US assets” and “accumulation by ‘whales’.”
However, he later predicted that $120,000 by the second quarter is “too low.” He cited Strategy’s (MSTR) increase in Bitcoin holdings, increasing institutional adoption, New Hampshire’s strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill, and several other factors as potential catalysts.
The bank has a year-end bitcoin price target of $200,000. The world’s largest crypto was trading around $103,811 at publication time, per CoinMarketCap data.
Further, Standard Chartered has predicted the overall value of the crypto market to reach $10 trillion by 2026, and the stablecoin sector to surge 10-fold to $2 trillion in the next three years.
Institutional Investors Count on Crypto Bull Run
Standard Chartered launched a crypto collateral project in collaboration with OKX, creating a secure avenue for institutional traders to manage crypto-based positions.
The initiative was developed in collaboration with Franklin Templeton, allowing institutional clients to use cryptocurrencies and tokenized money market funds as collateral for trading activities. The program was introduced within the regulatory framework of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).
Standard Chartered is also exploring options to expand its crypto operations in the United States, along with Deutsche Bank.
The current wave of optimism in the global financial markets is channeling capital into riskier assets, said Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at Web3 fintech platform YouHodler.
“Bitcoin continues to benefit from strong internal, long-term growth drivers, such as increasing institutional adoption,” he told Cryptonews.
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