SC Ventures And SBI Holdings Launch Digital Asset JV in UAE
The JV will invest in market infrastructure, risk and compliance tools, DeFi, tokenization, consumer payments, and the Metaverse.
SC Ventures, the fintech investment arm of Standard Chartered, and Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings, will establish a digital asset joint venture (JV) in the UAE, with a planned capitalization of $100 million, SC Ventures said in a statement.
The Digital JV, which will leverage the experience of SC Ventures and SBI Holdings in managing digital assets, aims to capitalize on the UAE's increasing prominence as a hub for fintechs in the digital asset space. Based out of the Dubai International Finance Center (DIFC), it will invest in seed to Series C companies working in market infrastructure, risk and compliance tools, DeFi, tokenization, consumer payments, and the Metaverse.
In May 2023, Standard Chartered and the DIFC inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together on digital assets, including custody services.
SC Ventures is Standard Chartered's fintech investment arm. It has previously made investments in fintech companies like real-time gross settlement system and crypto exchange and remittance network Ripple and enterprise tech company Metaco, which helps financial and non-financial institutions build digital asset operations. It has also invested in ventures like Ireland-based crypto custodian Zodia Custody and crypto trading platform Zodia Markets.
SBI Holdings is a Japanese internet-based financial group that has five core businesses. Its activities include securities, banking and insurance; private equity and venture capital; asset management; and crypto asset trading and exchange. It also has businesses in non-financial services, including biotechnology, healthcare, medical informatics and Web3.