SC Ventures makes first external investment in GSR

Standard Chartered’s fintech and investment arm, SC Ventures, has taken an equity stake in crypto market maker GSR, the two firms announced Tuesday. The companies did not disclose the size of the investment. The transaction makes SC Ventures the first outside strategic shareholder in GSR since the firm was founded in 2013.

The investment extends a business relationship that began last month when GSR invested in Libeara, a tokenization platform backed by SC Ventures. GSR has described Libeara as a channel for clients to convert traditional assets into tokens as part of expanding its crypto capital markets services.

GSR expanded its token lifecycle management capabilities earlier this year after acquiring Autonomous and Architech. The firm now offers services across token issuance, including pre-launch strategy, token lifecycle management and post-launch market making aimed at supporting token issuers through the launch process.

GSR has also launched an ETF, the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF, which the firm presents as an actively managed multi-asset crypto fund with staking enabled.

Standard Chartered said the investment is part of its plan to develop crypto prime brokerage services. The two firms will work together to develop market infrastructure intended to be compliant and scalable and to support deeper liquidity and more resilient trading.

GSR chief executive Xin Song stated, “Institutional digital asset markets are maturing rapidly. The firms best positioned to lead will be those that combine deep capital markets expertise with trusted banking infrastructure. This partnership brings those strengths together, with tokenisation as a key starting point.” Alex Manson, chief executive of SC Ventures, added that infrastructure will define the next phase of digital assets and that the investment reinforces the unit's focus on building institutional ecosystems to support liquidity and market stability.