The company is backed by Standard Chartered's venture arm, SC Ventures, and BC Technology Group, a digital asset organization.
Zodia Markets, a UK-based brokerage founded back in 2021, has recently announced that it scored crypto asset approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and that it would be rolling out its institutional crypto exchange.
According to the official announcement issued on July 28th, the firm’s digital asset trading platform, offering spot trading of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), marks the first time a crypto-driven business backed by an international bank has been registered by the FCA.
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The trading platform will reportedly leverage FIX API connectivity and the same electronic trading standards as traditional equities.
Usman Ahmad, CEO of Zodia, commented on the current bear market and mentioned that it provided a massive opportunity for a number of institutions to enter the crypto market at a rapid pace. He added:
What most large financial institutions have done for now is entered crypto via the custody space, as has Standard Chartered with Zodia Custody. We looked around and saw a gap in the market when it comes to a crypto trading firm with the backing of a bank.
Ahmad also noted that Zodia Markets, formed in a partnership between SC Ventures and BC Technology Group, would first focus on the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Nonetheless, the company is planning to expand to other regions as well.
It seems as though the players in the crypto world are not stopping and launching crypto-based initiatives. For instance, earlier in July, PicPay, Brazil’s digital wallet app, announced that it would be firing up its own crypto exchange in August.
On another note, fintech company Santander Brasil recently stated that it will be launching crypto-related services in Brazil in the next few months.
