LMAX Group and Standard Chartered executed their first live digital asset prime brokerage trades.
It comes as global banks expand regulated cryptocurrency offerings to meet rising institutional demand.
David Mercer, chief executive of LMAX Group, said the trades show how traditional financial infrastructure can support institutional digital asset markets.
“The lack of credit counterparties with robust balance sheets on the scale that we see in traditional finance has been a critical missing mechanism in the digital asset market to date,” he said.
The companies said the pilot transactions demonstrate a bank-grade model for Bitcoin and Ether trading, with Standard Chartered acting as the credit intermediary and settlement completed through the bank’s digital asset custody platform.
The trades were executed on LMAX Digital, the group’s regulated institutional digital asset venue. It marked Standard Chartered’s first digital asset credit intermediation transactions conducted through a prime brokerage structure.
The firms said the pilot validated controls covering credit, margin, risk management, trade booking, settlement and reporting while operating within established regulatory and compliance frameworks.
Alison Higgins, head of prime services at Standard Chartered, said the project formed part of the bank’s strategy to build an institutional digital asset platform spanning custody, trading and prime brokerage. “As demand accelerates, we are helping our Prime Brokerage clients capture new opportunities backed by the risk management, controls and balance sheet strength they expect from a G-SIB,” she added.
The pilot also tested client connectivity, electronic messaging, trade matching and early netting processes, providing a blueprint for future digital asset credit intermediation services.
The announcement built on Standard Chartered’s launch of digital asset trading for institutional clients in July 2025, when it became the first global systemically important bank to offer deliverable spot Bitcoin and Ether trading.
The move reflected a broader institutional shift towards regulated digital assets, with banks, asset managers and investment funds increasingly seeking exposure through established market infrastructure and regulated products.
