Nuclear-level news: Standard Chartered Bank becomes the first global bank to offer institutional trading of $BTC and $ETH.

This may be one of the biggest news items in the crypto world today, but its symbolic significance outweighs its short-term actual impact. Its influence can be deconstructed from three levels:

1/ Industry level: Digital currency takes a substantial step towards mainstream finance

This is the first globally systemically important bank (G-SIB) to directly offer spot trading. Compared to previous offerings where Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley mainly dealt with derivatives or ETF distribution, Standard Chartered Bank directly provides BTC/ETH trading and settlement.

2/ Market aspect: Short-term sentiment stimulus, long-term capital support

In the short term, there is limited direct impact on the price of the currency, as the target clients are institutional clients and it is initially only in the UK.

However, in the medium to long term, if institutions can trade directly through compliant banking channels, the barriers for fund inflows will be further reduced, paving the way for more ETF and fund products.

The integration of BTC/ETH by the forex platform has released a signal treating a crypto asset on par with traditional forex assets.

3/ Regulatory aspect: Release compliance signals

Standard Chartered Bank's implementation proves that the UK regulator has given some tacit approval or framework for banks to directly connect to spot trading. In the future, other G-SIB banks (such as Citibank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, etc.) may follow suit.

Ten years ago, speculating on Bitcoin was just a hobby for a niche group, conducted through peer-to-peer on forums.

Now, investing in Bitcoin has become a professional and mature way of managing finances, and retail investors are more inclined to trade on large compliant exchanges.

Ten years from now, trading Bitcoin may be as easy and widespread as bank transfers.