Standard Chartered unit will raise USD $ 250 million for digital asset fund

By Hannah Pérez

SC Ventures plans to raise USD $ 250 million for a new fund focused on digital assets that plans to launch in 2026 with support of investors in the Middle East.

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• SC Ventures plans to raise USD $ 250 million for a new fund.
• Focused on digital assets, it will be launched in 2026 with support of investors in the Middle East.
• This is the last effort of the Standard Chartered bank related to cryptocurrency.

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The investment arm and creation of companies of the British Bank Standard Charteredplan to raise capital for a fund of USD $ 250 million aimed at investing in digital assets in the financial services sector.

SC Ventureslaunched in 2018 to invest in technological startups and innovative projects, aims to start this fund next year with the support of Middle East investors and an approach to global investmentsaccording to Gautam Jain, operational member, during the event Money 20/20 In Riad, he reported Bloomberg This Monday.

The unit also plans to launch a $ 100 million fund for investments in Africa and is evaluating the creation of its first risk debt fund, according to Gautam Jain. It was not clarified if these funds will focus on cryptocurrencies or financial technology.

This year, SC Ventures has intensified its presence in the Middle East, starting operations in Saudi Arabia, as Jain recalled, according to coverage. The strategy includes forming a team dedicated exclusively to the United Kingdom and establishing a national fund in 2026 to make minority investments in companies and develop new businesses.

According to the magnitt platform data collected by BloombergSaudi Arabia leads the collection of risk capital funds in the Middle East, especially in Fintech. In the first semester of 2025, local startups in the sector raised USD $ 274 million, driven by an increase in the number of agreements.

A financing round prior to a possible exit to the Tabby Stock Exchange, a “Purchase now, pay”, contributed to that figure. Payment solutions, loans and insurance are the most attractive categories for investors in the Middle East, where activity in the region has been promoted by government support in recent years.

Standard Chartered deepens cryptocurrencies

This marks the last known initiative of Standard Chartered within the cryptocurrency space. The London -based bank has been deepening its efforts related to digital assets in the midst of greater institutional and retail demand.

In July, the lender premiered a trade service of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), available for your institutional clients.

Standard Chartered It has participation in two digital asset companies, Zodia custody and Zodia Marketsthat provide services ranging from cryptocurrency custody to extraburstile trade. In 2023, he also launched a unit Blockchain call Libera to help institutions with real world assets.

Meanwhile, bank analysts are known in the community of cryptocurrencies for their bullish price predictions.

A few weeks ago, Geoffrey Kendrick, Director of Research in Digital Assets of Standard Charteredupdated its projection to Ethereumprojecting an increase up to USD $ 7,500 for the end of the year, and aiming at USD $ 25,000 in 2028. It has also reiterated that Bitcoin You could cross the USD $ 200,000 before 2026, in line with the vision of analysts of Bitwise and Bernstein

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Article written with the help of AI, edited by Diariobitcoin

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