Anchorage Digital Partners with Standard Chartered for 24/7 USD Accounts and SWIFT Access

Anchorage Digital and Standard Chartered have partnered to provide institutional clients with integrated USD accounts and SWIFT wire access. This move bridges the gap between traditional fiat banking and digital asset custody, allowing fintech firms and global institutions to manage cross-border payments and crypto assets on a single, regulated platform without the friction of multiple providers.

What was announced

The partnership enables Anchorage Digital to offer USD accounts and access to SWIFT wires, including transfers to and from third parties, to eligible international institutional clients. This integration is specifically targeted at global businesses looking for a streamlined infrastructure layer that combines traditional banking rails with digital asset services. Rather than holding USD with one provider and digital assets with another, clients can bring those workflows together to reduce operational overhead.

A key component of the offering is the ability for clients onboarded through Anchorage Digital Singapore to move USD around the clock, including weekends and holidays, provided their counterparties also bank with Standard Chartered Singapore. This 24/7 settlement capability is facilitated through Anchorage Digital’s Atlas settlement network. The suite of services includes:

• USD accounts: Institutional accounts for operating funds and global payments.
• Named virtual accounts: The ability to spin up accounts in a firm's name with unique routing details to segregate funds and streamline reconciliation.
• SWIFT payments: Sending and receiving international USD wires, including third-party transfers.
• 24/7 settlement: Moving funds at any hour through the Atlas network.
• Integrated digital asset services: Secure digital asset custody and trading on the same platform as fiat services.

By housing secure digital asset custody and trading on the same platform as fiat banking services, the collaboration aims to reduce fragmentation and counterparty exposure. This allows businesses to avoid the complexity of settling across multiple third-party providers.

"As client needs evolve, financial infrastructure has to advance to facilitate greater speed, access and reliability. At Standard Chartered, we believe in banking the digital ecosystem by providing the regulated banking, payments, liquidity and risk infrastructure that digital asset firms need to operate at institutional scale. By bringing Standard Chartered’s trusted banking systems and global network together with Anchorage Digital’s regulated platform, we are enabling institutional firms the ability to move and manage fiat and digital assets more seamlessly, securely and efficiently across borders."

Luke Boland, Global Head, Fintech, Client Coverage at Standard Chartered.

The companies involved

Standard Chartered is a major international banking group with a significant presence in global markets, particularly across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The bank has increasingly positioned itself as a provider of regulated banking and risk infrastructure for the digital asset ecosystem. It has a long-standing history in traditional finance and has been active in exploring blockchain-based settlement solutions to modernize cross-border payments. The bank maintains a massive footprint in the fintech sector, evidenced by over 130 previous reports on its various technological integrations and partnerships.

Anchorage Digital is notable for being the first federally regulated crypto bank in the United States. The firm provides a suite of services for institutional investors, including custody, trading, and settlement of digital assets. By operating as a regulated entity, Anchorage Digital addresses the compliance and security requirements of large-scale financial institutions entering the crypto space. The company has focused on building infrastructure that allows for the secure management of digital assets alongside traditional financial workflows. This partnership with Standard Chartered leverages Anchorage's position as a regulated digital asset platform and Standard Chartered's global banking network to create a hybrid financial service model for international clients.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed the evolution of both companies within the digital asset and cross-border payment sectors. Standard Chartered has been a frequent subject of coverage, with 132 stories detailing its various fintech initiatives. Recently, the bank was highlighted in J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered Join Partior for 24/7 Cross-Border Settlement, which explored the bank's efforts to enhance liquidity and settlement speed. Anchorage Digital has also been featured in 11 reports, including recent developments such as Frgmnt and Anchorage Digital Partner to Boost Institutional Stablecoin Access on Base. This prior coverage underscores Anchorage's ongoing strategy to expand institutional access to digital assets through strategic infrastructure improvements and high-level banking partnerships.

What this means

This partnership represents a significant step in the maturation of the digital asset industry, signaling that the divide between crypto and fiat is continuing to erode. By integrating SWIFT wires and 24/7 settlement into a single custody platform, the industry is moving toward a standard where digital assets are treated as just another asset class within a broader treasury workflow. Traditional banks that have been slow to adopt digital asset capabilities are now under increased pressure to provide similar hybrid services or risk losing institutional volume to more agile, tech-forward competitors. The success of this model will likely depend on how well it navigates the complex, multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape governing both fiat and crypto.