Interview with SC Ventures: How Does a Bank-Backed Venture Arm Bet on Digital Assets? And How Does It View AI and the TradFi×Crypto Convergence?

During TOKEN2049 in Singapore, ChainCatcher sat down for an in-person interview with Harald Eltvedt, Operating Member of SC Ventures, the innovation, fintech and investment arm of Standard Chartered. During the event, OKX announced a new round of strategic funding at a $25 billion valuation, with participation from SC Ventures alongside Circle, Ripple, and hedge fund QRT — an extension of the round led by ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, in March this year.

Founded in 2018, SC Ventures started with digital banking and gradually moved deeper into digital assets. It has launched Zodia Custody (a digital asset custodian), Zodia Markets (a crypto-to-fiat exchange), and Libeara (a tokenization platform), and has made strategic investments in projects including GSR, OKX, and Yellow Card.

In this conversation, he shared SC Ventures' investment philosophy built around the mission of "banking the future," his take on AI-era bubbles and opportunities, and the path toward convergence between traditional finance and the crypto industry. Below is the full interview, edited for clarity.

1. ChainCatcher: OKX just announced a new round at a $25 billion valuation and you're one of the participants. We've also seen you invest in GSR and Yellow Card this year — your bets seem to be coming at later stages than usual. Could you share your main investment focus and the logic behind it?

Harald E.: Let me start with a quick introduction. SC Ventures is the venture building and investment arm of Standard Chartered. Our mission is to invest in anything we believe helps to build "the future of banking."

That sounds like a big claim, but the core idea is that we want banking to be flexible enough for our clients — whatever way, place, time, or conditions they want to use banking services, we want to be the bank that accompanies them.

We were founded about eight years ago, starting with digital banking and digital transformation. For example, if you're in Hong Kong you may know Mox Bank — that's the digital bank launched by Standard Chartered with SC Ventures taking the lead. We soon pivoted into digital assets, and not just crypto, because we firmly believe digital assets are here to stay. They mean 24/7 availability, instant transfers, instant settlement, instant trading — these things matter a lot to us.

But we have to do it in a safe way. Not that others are unsafe — but we are a bank. When clients entrust us with their trust, we must guard that trust at a bank-grade level. That's why we launched Zodia Custody, our digital asset custody solution; Zodia Markets, which offers crypto-to-fiat exchange services as well as stablecoin solutions — you can convert fiat into stablecoins or crypto assets. And there's Libeara, our incubated tokenization platform that can tokenize assets and put them on-chain, and more. On top of that, we've invested in GSR, and most recently in OKX. That's our overall investment logic.

As for stage of investments: typically we invest in earlier stages — seed, Series A, Series B. But sometimes we genuinely believe in an opportunity or a company and the problem it is solving, even if it's a later stage, we'll still invest and support it. GSR and OKX fall into that category.

2. ChainCatcher: As a venture arm backed by a traditional bank, what experiences or principles can you share about supporting DeFi or Web3 projects?

Harald E.: Our experience is that transparency is extremely important. We must be completely clear about how things work. Is there proper compliant onboarding? Do we truly know who is behind a transaction? These are fundamental for us and must be crystal clear. If they're not, then we may simply not be the right backer.

But if there are clear rules and everyone follows them, we will look at supporting the project — even young companies, young founders, even DeFi projects, as long as the underlying foundations are sound.

3. ChainCatcher: The primary market fundraising environment has been tight lately. Does pressure on the funding side affect your investment pace?

Harald E.: We have several different investment vehicles. Sometimes we invest directly from the bank's balance sheet, sometimes through our own funds, and sometimes we co-invest with partners. For example, we work with SBI and have done several co-investments together. So we have flexibility on the funding side — we can use funds, the balance sheet, or partner with others.

4. ChainCatcher: We understand you've obtained a stablecoin license in Hong Kong. How is that progressing?

Harald E.: Our bank in Hong Kong is one of the first institutions in Hong Kong to receive a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin issuer license. The vehicle is a company that Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong jointly established with Animoca and HKT (Hong Kong Telecom), called Anchorpoint.

I expect money will become increasingly digital — and I expect that trend to continue. And Hong Kong sits in a very interesting position at the center of financial flows, and potentially cross-border flows. Digital money is hugely significant for that. That's the opportunity we see. Anchorpoint is initially focused on B2B business, and may expand into cross-border payments and more scenarios in the future — we'll see how it evolves.

5. ChainCatcher: AI has absorbed enormous capital and talent, and has also posed challenges to crypto. How do you assess the current state of innovation in the crypto industry — is it underperforming expectations? How do you reposition the value of digital assets?

Harald E.: Indeed, everything seems to be AI right now. But I see this as a natural evolution for the crypto industry. When you think about the essence of digital assets, they bring flexibility and bring new investors into new asset classes. The younger generation is interested in crypto because it's an interesting asset class and the ability to trade 24/7 is also attractive.

Where AI truly amplifies capability is this: when you're not present — say you're asleep, the market moves and you don't notice — subject to the right permissions and controls, you can have your agent execute certain decisions. AI doesn't replace people; it 'superpowers' humans' decision-making abilities. That's the most interesting thing about AI: it augments humans rather than replacing them.

6.ChainCatcher: Everyone is talking about AI investment. How do you view the innovation and real value AI brings to the crypto industry? What do you think is the most worthwhile direction to watch right now, and where might the biggest bubbles be?

Harald E.: First of all, there will be a few bubbles and when valuations reach into the trillions of dollars, to be honest, it's a bit crazy. But that also reflects the excitement AI brings. Look at the US — SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI together are already worth over a trillion dollars. And look at what's happening in China. DeepSeek proved that you can achieve similar or even better results at a fraction of the cost. So you'll see bubbles, enormous wealth effects, and also new challengers emerging. And rather than making any firm predictions today, I'd simply say this is an incredibly exciting space, and we're very much looking forward to seeing it and being part of it.

7. ChainCatcher: Traditional finance and crypto are now moving into each other's territory: traditional institutions are making on-chain moves, while crypto platforms are connecting to real-world assets. How is this wave of convergence different from before? Which side has the greater advantage?

Harald E.: Here's how I see it: the crypto industry brings innovation, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things; traditional finance brings stability. I don't think it's a question of DeFi versus TradFi anymore. It's the combination of both that can deliver innovation, scale, and trust at the same time. These three things need to work together, not against each other. Together, they are the future of finance.

8. ChainCatcher: After this TOKEN2049 and your exchanges with the industry, what changes or signals impressed you the most? Compared with last year, what's your most immediate take on market sentiment and institutional participation?

Harald E.: As we've discussed today, everyone is excited about AI now. AI was already a topic last year, but the difference this year is less hype and more clarity. The focus of discussion has shifted to agentic solutions — deploying agents to handle trading, settlement, wealth management, and the like.

AI is still the main theme this year, but people have a much clearer view of what AI can do and what it should do. Making trading and markets more efficient — that's what excites me most this year.