Standard Chartered has launched a service allowing wealthy clients in the United Arab Emirates to trade bitcoin and ether directly from their bank accounts. The service, approved by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, is first available to clients who qualify as professional investors. The bank said it handles trading, custody and settlement within its own system, without separate wallets or external platforms. The service was built jointly across divisions and involves Zodia Markets.

Nexthrus said it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Dubai-based digital finance firm Fasset to cooperate on stablecoin-based financial infrastructure at Korea Blockchain Week (KBW 2026) on Sept. 30. The companies will review cooperation on linking payment infrastructure, stablecoin settlement and co-branded digital financial products. They will pursue a joint proof of concept linking Nexthrus’ payments with Fasset’s fiat-to-crypto conversion infrastructure and form a quarterly task force to discuss AED- and won-linked stablecoin infrastructure.