The joint venture will focus on investing in companies across the digital assets spectrum including market infrastructure, risk and compliance tools, DeFi, tokenisation, consumer payments, and the metaverse. The parties intend to capitalise the vehicle with $100 million.Alex Manson, CEO, SC Ventures, says: “The region is fast becoming a hub for fintechs in the digital asset space due to its regulation, strengthening infrastructure and talent. The Joint Venture will leverage SC Ventures’ experience in digital assets through our ventures such as Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, and through our investments in fintechs like Ripple and Metaco." In May 2023, Standard Chartered signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai International Financial Centre to collaborate in the digital asset space, including digital asset custody. That same month, SC Ventures exited its stake in Swiss custody firm Metaco as part of a $250 million sales to US crypto firm Ripple. Ripple is an SC Ventures portfolio company and boasts SBI as a marquee clientThe new fund plans to make investments ranging from seed to Series C funding with a focus on investing globally.