GSR has secured a strategic investment from SC Ventures, the fintech investment arm of Standard Chartered, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Summary
- SC Ventures became GSR’s first external strategic shareholder since crypto liquidity firm launched in 2013.
- GSR and SC Ventures plan to expand tokenization, liquidity and institutional digital asset infrastructure.
- GSR recently launched its Crypto Core3 ETF, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and staking exposure.
The deal makes SC Ventures the first external strategic shareholder in GSR since the crypto capital markets firm was founded in 2013.
The companies said the partnership will focus on digital asset market infrastructure, tokenization and institutional access. GSR provides market making, over-the-counter trading, advisory, asset management and liquidity services to crypto firms and financial institutions.
GSR and Standard Chartered target tokenization
The deal builds on a wider push to connect traditional finance with crypto markets. GSR said the partnership would support its role across advisory, liquidity and asset management, while SC Ventures brings banking and fintech investment experience.
“Institutional digital asset markets are maturing rapidly,” noted GSR CEO Xin Song.
He added that firms best placed to lead will combine capital markets experience with trusted banking infrastructure, with tokenization as a starting point.
The investment follows GSR’s recent move into Libeara, a tokenization platform backed by SC Ventures. That earlier investment gave GSR clients another path to tokenize assets and linked both firms before the latest shareholder deal.
SC Ventures deepens crypto infrastructure bets
SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson said, “The next phase of the digital asset evolution will be defined by the strength of infrastructure.” He said the investment supports SC Ventures’ focus on institutional ecosystems with deeper liquidity and more resilient market activity.
The move also fits Standard Chartered’s wider digital asset strategy. crypto.news reported in March that SC Ventures led Keyrock’s Series C round, valuing the crypto market maker at $1.1 billion. The report said Keyrock planned to scale trading, options, asset management and acquisition activity.
SC Ventures has become one of the more active bank-backed players in digital assets. Its related activity includes backing crypto firms, preparing a $250 million digital asset fund and advancing a crypto prime brokerage through SC Ventures.
GSR expands beyond market making
GSR has also moved into token lifecycle services. The firm expanded that business after acquiring Autonomous and Architech earlier this year. The company now positions itself as a provider that can support token projects from planning to post-launch market making.
The firm has also entered crypto ETF issuance. crypto.news reported that GSR launched the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF, ticker BESO, on Nasdaq. The fund targets Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, uses weekly rebalancing, charges a 1% fee and adds staking rewards where allowed.
