Libeara to Buy Zodia Markets' Jersey Arm, Adding a Second Regulated Dealer

Libeara, the tokenisation platform backed by Standard Chartered's SC Ventures, has agreed to acquire Zodia Markets (Jersey) Limited from the Zodia Markets group, which Standard Chartered also backs. Terms were not disclosed, and completion depends on regulatory approval, according to a company statement shared with Blockhead.

The Jersey entity is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission for investment business, Class A, which covers dealing in investments, and is supervised as a virtual asset service provider. Once the deal closes it will be renamed Libeara (Jersey) Limited. Libeara's group already includes a Singapore entity with a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Aaron Gwak, Libeara's founder and chief executive, said the acquisition will let the company offer "streamlined execution" to digital-native international investors seeking a broad range of tokenised assets. Nick Philpott, interim chief executive of Zodia Markets, called the sale a natural evolution of the group's institutional digital asset strategy and said it should bring continuity for clients on both sides. The announcement does not describe the Jersey entity's business, its client base, or whether those clients will move to Libeara.

Zodia Markets began as a joint venture between SC Ventures and OSL Group, and the announcement describes it as backed by Standard Chartered and OSL. Bloomberg reported in April that Standard Chartered remained Zodia Markets' majority owner after its stake was cut from 84% to 60% in a funding round the previous summer. Blockhead covered Zodia Markets' $18.25 million Series A in July 2025.

The Jersey entity itself has a short history inside Zodia Markets. It began as the over-the-counter trading arm of Elwood Technologies, which Zodia Markets bought in 2024 and renamed to Zodia Markets (Jersey) Limited.

For Libeara, the purchase continues a shift we has followed this year. In March, the MAS licence turned Libeara from an infrastructure provider into a regulated market participant. A GSR-led funding round followed in April, built around GSR's market-making and distribution network, and the company closed a $14 million round in June.

Libeara says its infrastructure has supported the tokenisation of more than US$1 billion in regulated assets, including a tokenised US Treasury fund and what it describes as the first tokenised retail money market fund in Asia. A dealing entity in Jersey could give it a second regulated route to international investors, though the announcement does not say which products it will offer through the entity.

The deal lands two days after Standard Chartered said it had signed definitive agreements to acquire Zodia Custody, the custody business Blockhead covered when the bank first agreed to absorb it in May. Zodia Markets has also changed leaders this year, with co-founder Usman Ahmad leaving in March and Philpott stepping in as interim chief executive.

The announcement leaves several points open: the price, the size of the Jersey business, the timeline for regulatory approval, and what Libeara plans to offer through the entity. Those answers will show whether the deal is a modest licence purchase or the start of a wider build-out of Libeara's regulated distribution.