According to Reuters, global banking giant Standard Chartered announced the launch of its Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading service for its corporate clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The bank thus became the first global bank to offer direct cryptocurrency spot trading to institutional clients in the Gulf country.
The new service is offered through Standard Chartered’s operations at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The bank aims to expand institutional investors’ access to the cryptocurrency market through traditional financial infrastructure.
Standard Chartered’s move to the UAE stands out as part of its strategy to expand its activities in the digital asset space. The bank had already begun offering spot trading services for BTC and ETH to institutional clients in the UK in 2025.
Solana Accounts for One-Fifth of Stablecoin Transactions!
While Standard Chartered UAE drew attention with its BTC and ETH moves, the bank’s Head of Digital Asset Research, Geoff Kendrick, made statements about Solana.
Speaking on Solana’s official podcast, “House of Sol,” Kendrick highlighted Solana’s strong position in the stablecoin market.
Kendrick stated that approximately $7 trillion worth of transactions are processed monthly via stablecoins, and the Solana network handles about one-fifth of these transactions.
According to Kendrick, this ratio highlights not only the network’s role in decentralized finance and cryptocurrency trading, but also its growth in payment and stablecoin-based use cases.
Kendrick also noted that Solana’s low transaction costs and high transaction capacity are among the key factors that enable the network to stand out in stablecoin and micro-payment applications.
