1. License Acquisition and Regulation
2. New Market Opportunities and Prospects
3. Strategic Importance and SC Ventures' Partnerships

SC Ventures, the investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank, has made a strategic investment in One Trading, a Bitpanda spinoff. This investment will help One Trading launch the first perpetual futures trading platform in the European Union.

License Acquisition and Regulation

In July, One Trading became the first European cryptocurrency exchange to obtain an Organized Trading Facility (OTF) license from the Dutch Financial Markets Authority. This license allows it to offer financial products regulated under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2018 (MiFID II) instead of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Crypto assets classified as financial instruments fall under MiFID II regulation.

New Market Opportunities and Prospects

Exploring new market potential, One Trading is now the only platform offering perpetual futures trading in the EU and the first cash-settled perpetuals platform in Europe, including the UK. It’s also the first regulated European derivatives exchange open to retail clients.

Strategic Importance and SC Ventures' Partnerships

While SC Ventures has been primarily active in cryptocurrency businesses across Asia and the Middle East, this investment signals a slow yet deliberate approach to Europe. In recent years, SC Ventures partnered with Northern Trust to launch Zodia, a UK-registered crypto custody platform, and teamed up with Chinese fintech Linklogis to establish the Olea digital infrastructure platform.

The launch of the perpetual futures trading platform in the EU, supported by SC Ventures, underscores the importance of financial innovations combined with consumer protection. The launch date for the platform has not been announced yet, and the investment terms were not disclosed.