Standard Chartered is close to starting operations on its own spot crypto trading desk for bitcoin and ether, according to a report.

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that sources familiar with the matter revealed that the British multinational bank plans to enter the spot crypto trading market as part of its FX unit. According to the report, this crypto trading desk will be run from London.

“We have been working closely with our regulators to support demand from our institutional clients to trade bitcoin and Ethereum, in line with our strategy to support clients across the wider digital asset ecosystem, from access and custody to tokenization and interoperability,” the bank said in an emailed statement, reported by Bloomberg.

Standard Chartered is one of several large banks expanding its …