Standard Chartered, OKX, and Franklin Templeton have teamed up to launch a groundbreaking pilot trading platform that will revolutionize how institutional clients can use crypto and tokenized money market funds as collateral in off-exchange transactions. The platform, which was announced in an April 10 release, aims to provide a secure and efficient way for institutions to leverage digital assets in their trading activities.
Franklin Templeton’s Digital Assets division will contribute tokenized on-chain assets to the platform, which OKX clients can seamlessly integrate into their trading and risk management workflows. This innovative structure is designed to meet institutional security, regulatory compliance, and liquidity standards, setting a new standard for the industry.
Roger Bayston, head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, highlighted the importance of native blockchain integration in the platform. By minting assets on-chain, institutions can benefit from true ownership and near-instantaneous settlement, reducing reliance on traditional infrastructure and aligning operational speed with blockchain-based systems.
Brevan Howard Digital, a division of the global alternative investment manager Brevan Howard, is among the first firms to participate in the pilot program. Ryan Taylor, chief administrative officer at Brevan Howard Digital, emphasized that the initiative reflects the increasing institutionalization of the digital asset sector and the availability of compliant infrastructure for large-scale participation.
The program operates within the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) framework, providing capital efficiency and enhanced asset protection through custody arrangements with a globally systemically important bank (G-SIB). Standard Chartered will serve as the independent custodian through its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) entity, regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, while OKX will manage the collateral and facilitate transaction execution through its VARA-regulated entity.
Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing and securities services at Standard Chartered, noted that the initiative leverages the bank’s established custody infrastructure to provide a secure mechanism for holding digital collateral. This collaboration addresses institutional demand for trusted digital asset custody and supports the safe use of blockchain-based products in trading environments.
Hong Fang, President of OKX, highlighted the program as a secure and capital-efficient framework for deploying trading capital. The combination of OKX’s infrastructure and Standard Chartered’s custody services creates a regulatory-grade environment suitable for institutional participants, fostering the broader adoption of tokenized instruments in institutional trading.
Overall, the pilot trading platform represents a significant step forward in meeting institutional demand for secure and efficient digital asset trading solutions. By enabling institutions to post digital assets as collateral while maintaining regulatory safeguards and custodial segregation, the platform paves the way for a new era of institutional trading in the digital asset space.