Institutional digital asset custody has long forced firms to choose between safety and flexibility. Cold storage protects assets but slows trading, while faster market access can add counterparty, prefunding, and operational risks.
Zodia Custody is building around that gap. The firm is nominated for Best Digital Asset Custody Provider at the
| Founded | Backed By | Offices | Jurisdictions | Employees | Regulatory Footprint |
| 2020 | 5 banks | 7 | 15+ | 150+ | 5 |
Zodia Custody Infrastructure Snapshot
The nomination centers on the launch of Zodia Switch, a custody-native asset swap product announced in February 2026 in partnership with LMAX Group.
Zodia Switch allows institutional clients to initiate asset-to-asset swaps directly from their secure custodial wallets.
The product supports ERC-20 assets including ETH, wrapped BTC, RLUSD, USDC, and USDT, without requiring clients to pre-fund an LMAX trading account or move assets off-platform.
That matters because portfolio rebalancing is still one of the most awkward parts of institutional crypto operations. Firms often need to move assets from custody to an external trading venue just to adjust exposure. That creates delays, additional approvals, and more points of operational risk.
Zodia Switch keeps that workflow inside the custody environment. Pricing and execution come from LMAX through infrastructure embedded into Zodia’s platform, while clients retain governance controls, permissioned AML screening, and audit trails.
Bringing Trading Closer to Custody
Zodia Custody was established in late 2020 by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation unit, and Northern Trust. The firm was built to bring banking-grade custody standards into digital assets.
Its shareholder base now includes Standard Chartered, Northern Trust, SBI Holdings, National Australia Bank, and Emirates NBD. Emirates NBD became the fifth traditional financial institution to back the company through a strategic investment in December 2024.
The bank-backed structure is central to Zodia’s positioning. Custody is one of the few parts of digital asset infrastructure where institutions still expect familiar controls: segregation, governance, auditability, compliance, and clear legal accountability.
Zodia Switch extends that model from safekeeping into portfolio activity. The product does not turn Zodia into a trading venue. Instead, it lets institutions access liquidity from inside their custody setup.
That is a practical shift. It reduces the need to choose between keeping assets protected and making them usable.
A Wider Institutional Product Stack
Zodia Switch builds on a wider custody and settlement suite.
The firm already offers Interchange, its off-exchange settlement product with LMAX. It also offers Solutions by Zodia Custody, a white-label custody infrastructure product for banks, alongside services for government and law enforcement clients.
Zodia has also become part of Europe’s regulated digital asset product market. Its custody mandates include 21Shares’ physically backed ABTC ETP, Invesco’s European Physical Bitcoin ETP, and Bitwise, formerly ETC Group. Invesco states that each Physical Bitcoin ETP certificate is secured by Bitcoin held offline in cold storage by Zodia Custody.
The firm is also connected to new post-trade infrastructure. ClearToken’s CT Settle, a delivery-versus-payment settlement service for cryptoassets, stablecoins, and fiat currency, used Zodia Custody as the sole digital custodian in its first settlement cycle. The platform is powered by Nasdaq Eqlipse Clearing technology.
Zodia’s regulatory footprint has also expanded. In January 2026, French market regulator AMF listed Zodia Custody Europe S.A. as a MiCA-licensed CASP passporting from Luxembourg, authorized for custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients and crypto-asset transfer services.
Standard Chartered Moves Closer
Zodia’s nomination also comes as Standard Chartered appears to be bringing digital asset custody deeper into its institutional banking strategy.
On April 8, 2026, reports suggested that Standard Chartered was seeking to merge parts of majority-owned Zodia Custody with one of its digital asset operations. The report said the bank planned to integrate Zodia’s crypto custody business into a division inside its corporate and investment bank that provides similar services.
That move would underline the direction of the market. Digital asset custody is no longer a side product for financial institutions. It is becoming part of the same infrastructure stack as trading, settlement, collateral management, and tokenized asset services.
For Zodia, the timing strengthens the nomination. The firm already sits at the intersection of bank ownership, regulated custody, ETP servicing, and institutional trading workflows. Zodia Switch gives that position a sharper product story.
The recognize firms building the systems that could define the next phase of digital finance. Zodia Custody’s nomination reflects its role in moving institutional custody from passive safekeeping toward controlled, auditable asset activity.
The post appeared first on .
