By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC plans to launch in 2024 a custody service for storing blockchain-based assets excluding cryptocurrency, the bank said on Wednesday. The service, which is a partnership with Swiss digital asset firm Metaco, will allow institutional clients to store blockchain-based tokens representing traditional financial assets, as opposed to crypto or stablecoins, HSBC said. HSBC said last week it had made tokens representing physical gold held in its London vault. The bank last year launched a digital asset platform, HSBC Orion, which allows financial institutio…