After LMAX, Standard Chartered Scales Crypto Prime Brokerage Playbook to 24X

Standard Chartered cements its presence in crypto prime brokerage. Following a successful pilot with LMAX Digital, the bank has integrated its credit-intermediation model with 24X Bermuda.

24X Bermuda Limited announced on 10 November that the expanded partnership will support Bitcoin and Ether trading. Institutional participants would access liquidity through 24X while facing Standard Chartered, rather than individual liquidity providers, as their counterparty.

One Bank Counterparty, Separate Execution

Under the arrangement, 24X operates the execution-only platform, handling liquidity configuration, order matching and straight-through processing. Standard Chartered provides the counterparty relationship.

For institutions already trading FX and metals through the bank’s prime brokerage business on 24X, the expansion would add crypto liquidity to that existing relationship.

The announcement follows spot Bitcoin trades on 24X involving Standard Chartered, Cumberland DRW and Wintermute. In those transactions, the bank acted as a liquidity taker and the trading firms supplied liquidity.

They preceded the newly announced arrangement in which institutional participants would face Standard Chartered as their counterparty.

The cryptocurrency activity sits within 24X Bermuda Limited, which is regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. The group’s US equities exchange operates through a separate subsidiary.

Standard Chartered’s Earlier LMAX Pilot

Standard Chartered had previously tested digital asset prime brokerage on another venue. In July, the bank and LMAX announced their first live trades in spot Bitcoin and Ether.

LMAX Digital handled execution, while the bank acted as credit intermediary between trading counterparties. That pilot tested credit, margin and settlement controls, including T+1 settlement through Standard Chartered’s UK branch.

The 24X announcement describes a similar division between venue and bank, but does not specify whether it will use the same settlement arrangements.

24X has not said when institutional trading under the expanded prime brokerage arrangement will begin. That will be the next step beyond the spot transactions already completed on its platform.