Standard Chartered, OKX, and Franklin Templeton have teamed up to launch a pilot trading platform that allows institutional clients to use crypto and tokenized money market funds as collateral in off-exchange transactions. Franklin Templeton’s Digital Assets division will provide tokenized on-chain assets that OKX clients can integrate into their trading and risk management workflows. This structure aims to meet institutional security, regulatory compliance, and liquidity standards by emphasizing native blockchain integration and enabling true ownership and near-instantaneous settlement.
Brevan Howard Digital, a division of global alternative investment manager Brevan Howard, is one of the first firms to participate in the pilot. Chief administrative officer Ryan Taylor stated that the program 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 and aims to provide capital efficiency and enhanced asset protection through custody arrangements with a globally systemically important bank.
Standard Chartered will act 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, highlighted the bank’s established custody infrastructure and the collaboration’s role in addressing institutional demand for trusted digital asset custody. OKX President Hong Fang noted that the program provides a regulatory-grade environment for institutional participants to deploy trading capital in a secure and capital-efficient manner.
The pilot trading platform seeks to facilitate the broader adoption of tokenized instruments in institutional trading by enabling institutions to post digital assets as collateral while maintaining regulatory safeguards and custodial segregation. The collaboration between Standard Chartered, OKX, and Franklin Templeton is a significant step towards integrating blockchain technology and digital assets into traditional financial systems, providing institutional clients with secure and compliant platforms for trading with crypto and tokenized assets.
