Standard Chartered and SBI Holdings to invest $100 million in crypto startups

The Standard Chartered unit (SC Ventures) and the Japanese conglomerate SBI Holdings will create in the UAE a company with $100 million in capital, specialising in investments in crypto projects. The Block reports.

The joint venture will invest in the development of:

• decentralised finance;
• tokenisation;
• infrastructure solutions;
• payments;
• metaverses.

The company will focus on projects at various stages of their lifecycle—from seed rounds to Series C.

“The joint venture will draw on SC Ventures’ experience in digital assets through our firms such as Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, as well as through our investments in fintech companies like Ripple and Metaco,” said SC Ventures head Alex Manson.

SBI Holdings will also launch a separate fund of 100 billion yen ($663 million) by year-end, focused on Web3, AI and other areas. Japanese financial giants Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Nippon Life Insurance and Daiwa Securities Group have signalled their intention to invest more than 50 billion yen, according to Nikkei.

In May, the fintech giant Ripple agreed to acquire crypto custodian Metaco for $250 million.