DBS Group Holdings Ltd. has opened up its cryptocurrency trading services on its digital exchange to an additional 100,000 of its most affluent clientele. The biggest bank of Singapore expands its existing offering for crypto services, despite unclear signals by the local regulator.
This announcement marks the second major expansion of eligible clients, following a prior announcement by the bank roughly two weeks ago that it would start offering crypto trading services to 300,000 of its wealthiest Asian clients, including private banks, accredited investors and other exchanges and funds. Before that, the exchange had about 1,000 eligible traders.
Crypto as future investment for clients
Since being granted approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to operate a crypto exchange, DBS Vickers - the brokerage entity of DBS bank that runs the exchange - has seen a steady increase in trading activity. Transaction volumes doubled between April, and June 2022, with bitcoin volume seeing a four-fold increase.
“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. Broadening access to DDEx is yet another step in our efforts to provide sophisticated investors looking to dip their toes in cryptocurrencies with a seamless and secure way to do so.” - Sim S. Lim, Group Executive for Consumer Banking and Wealth Management at DBS Bank
The bank will now allow accredited clients with at least $246,000 in investable assets to buy, sell, and trade a few cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Crypto traders must invest at least USD 500 and the trading facility will be available on the DBS digibank app. According to DBS bank, clients’ crypto assets will also be protected by “institutional-grade” custody, which stores the assets in cold storage and is protected by multiple security layers.
Unclear signals by the regulator
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has previously warned against retail investors trading cryptocurrencies and in January 2022, banned crypto ads from the general public. Evidence of this will be seen in the upcoming Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, scheduled for September 30, 2022, when Crypto.com will be forced to remove public advertising signage during the race.
The MAS Assistant Managing Director (Policy, Payments, and Financial Crime) Loo Siew Yee noted that the MAS strongly encourages the development of blockchain technology and innovative application of crypto tokens in value-adding use cases, but the trading of cryptocurrencies is highly risky and not suitable for the general public.
The agency has come under fire for positioning Singapore as a destination for FinTech and distributed ledger technology (DLT) while simultaneously creating bureaucratic obstacles for companies wishing to establish crypto businesses in the country. It has however voiced its support for tokenizing traditional financial assets like cash, bonds, artwork, and real estate.
