Singapore’s DBS Bank Expands Crypto Trading Service

DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Singapore’s largest bank announced the expansion of its cryptocurrency trading service to its members-only digital exchange, Digibank.

DBS today announced that it introduced a cryptocurrency trading product, allowing its wealthy clients with reputations as accredited investors to trade in cryptocurrencies. Investors will now have access to trading options in Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), and Ethereum (ETH) on its digital exchange (DDEx) with minimum investments starting at $500. In the announcement, DBS said that this new service will allow investors to trade cryptocurrencies at their convenience, adding that it will also provide “hassle-free access to DDEx, one of the world’s first bank-backed digital exchanges.” Before this announcement, crypto trading on DDEx was limited to corporate and institutional investors, family offices, and clients of DBS Private Bank and DBS Treasures Private Clients.

DBS Bank launched DDEx first in 2021 and following the expansion of its services, the bank now offers 100,000 of its clients in Singapore access to services offered by the DBS digital ecosystem. Sim S. Lim, group executive of consumer banking and wealth management, DBS Bank, said in a statement:

As a trusted partner that helps our clients to grow and protect their wealth, we believe in staying ahead of the curve and providing access to the solutions they seek.

DBS announced its intention to offer cryptocurrency trading services to institutional investors in 2020 already and said earlier in the year that it is looking to launch a digital assets trading desk for retail customers by the end of 2022.

While Singapore is home to many digital asset firms and the news that has come from DBS is certainly very bullish, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is still warning of the dangers associated with investing in cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, the MAS even went as far as to issue a statement reiterating that retail investors should not invest in the asset class, saying:

The prices of cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly and investors stand to lose all the monies they have put into cryptocurrencies.

However, even after it issued the aforementioned warning, the MAS released its digital asset framework which expands into 2025 where the regulator made it clear that it intends to “enable digital currency connectivity” via a plan named Project Orchid according to reports by Nasdaq. Under its digital asset framework, the regulator plans to explore distributed ledger technology, asset tokenization, and cross-border payments.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.