Singapore’s DBS Bank Expands Its Crypto Trading Service for Wealthy Investors
DBS Bank, the largest lender in Singapore, has announced that in addition to its Bitcoin (BTC) trading product for accredited investors, its wealth clients will now be able to trade Ether, XRP, and Bitcoin Cash directly on its members-only DDEx exchange, according to reports on September 23, 2022.
DBS Adds Support for More Cryptoassets
The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), a multinational banking and financial services corporation established in 1968, has announced the launch of a self-directed digital assets trading service to make it possible for its accredited customers to trade more digital assets.
Per sources close to the matter, DBS has made it clear that its wealth clients will now be able to trade a total of four established digital currencies: BTC, ETH, XRP, and BCH on its members-only digital exchange, DDEx.
The firm says the service will initially be available to about 100,000 investors in its DBS Treasures segment which requires investable assets of S$350,000 ($246,000). These investors will be able to trade the supported tokens with a minimum investment sum of USD 500 (S$710).
DBS’ now expanded self-directed crypto trading service was previously only available to the bank’s institutional investors, family offices, as well as clients of DBS Private Bank and DBS Treasures Private Client.
In addition to allowing accredited clients of DBS to trade digital assets, the DDEx platform also makes it possible for institutions to raise funds by conducting security token offerings (STOs) on the platform.
Crypto Adoption Rising Despite Market Slump
While the gloomy market conditions have wiped out over $2 trillion from crypto’s market capitalization since May 2022, and no one can say for sure whether Bitcoin (BTC) has finally bottomed out, institutional investor interest in digital assets remains.
In August 2022, DBS Bank secured an “in principle” regulatory license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer crypto trading services under the country’s Payment Services Act.
“We are pleased to have made steady progress on our digital asset ecosystem in the six months since we launched the DDEx last year. We have seen keen interest among asset managers and corporates for access to digital payment token services,” said DBS at the time.
Last month, DBS Bank revealed its DDEx crypto trading platform witnessed a four-fold increase in BTC trading in the month of June, as compared to April, with buy orders accounting for 90 percent of the total trades.
On September 22, 2022 crypto.news reported that Nomura, a 97-year-old Japanese financial institution, has rolled out a new subsidiary called Laser VC, to focus on digital asset services such as secondary trading, investing in crypto-focused projects, and more.
In the same vein, JPMorgan’s global head of payments, Takis Georgakopoulos stated this week that though the bank has witnessed a significant decrease in demand for its crypto payments service since April, it will, however, continue to support crypto.
At press time, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $926.70 billion, with BTC trading at around $18,989.
