Every single bank will soon need to hold digital assets, says Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer
Standard Chartered is set to fully acquire Zodia Custody by August, signaling a shift where major banks are buying established crypto infrastructure rather than building it in-house. Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer notes this reflects the maturity of blockchain technology as it integrates into traditional finance for tokenization and stablecoin payments.
Why it matters
This acquisition highlights the institutionalization of digital assets, suggesting that legacy banks are moving toward full integration of crypto-custody services into their core operations.
Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Every single bank will soon need to hold digital assets, says Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer Sawyer confirmed that Standard Chartered’s full acquisition of the firm is on track to target a signing at the end of June and complete by the end of August. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Jamie Crawley Jun 3, 2026, 3:08 p.m. 3 min read Make preferred on Zodia Custody CEO Julian Sawyer says sale of his firm to a Tradfi entity is a huge win for the crypto industry. Zodia Custody CEO Julian Sawyer (Olivier Acuna/CoinDesk) What to know : Standard Chartered is set to fully acquire Zodia Custody by the end of August, folding its digital custody operations into the bank and effectively retiring the Zodia Custody brand. The deal underscores how major banks are abandoning in-house experiments and instead buying established crypto platforms to gain trusted, institutional-grade technology for digital asset custody, tokenization and stablecoin payments. As global banks move deeper into digital assets, regulation is converging across jurisdictions, with rapid progress in Asia and the Middle East and the broader crypto industry increasingly aligning with traditional banking rules such as KYC and AML. Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody, described Standard Chartered s ongoing acquisition of the firm as a "major validation" that highlights a growing reality in mainstream finance: legacy banks cannot build institutional-grade digital asset custody safely or efficiently without proper software.
The article reports on a business acquisition using industry-standard terminology without inflammatory language.
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