Singapore’s Largest Bank to Launch Crypto Exchange
- The DBS Digital Exchange will initially support 4 of the largest digital currencies on the market, which will be exchangeable for four fiat currencies.
- The exchange will also offer a platform for tokenization, and an “institution-grade digital custody solution”.
DBS Bank headquarters in Marina Bay Financial Centre, Central Business District in Singapore, Singapore on 9 August 2019. Shutterstock
Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, is ready to launch a new digital asset exchange next week. The exchange will provide tokenization and custody services to users, the firm said in a press release on 10 December.
The so-called DBS Digital Exchange will offer services to institutional and accredited investors, and will facilitate spot exchanges between fiat and cryptocurrency. Initially, the platform will support four fiat currencies — the Singapore dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, and USD — that will be tradable against Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ripple (XRP). The CEO of DBS Group, Piyush Gupta, said in a statement:
“For Singapore to become even more competitive as a global financial hub, we have to prepare ourselves to welcome the mainstream adoption of digital assets and currency trading. DBS is committed to accelerating the development of a fully integrated ecosystem to facilitate this.”
The exchange will not only offer crypto trading services, but a regulated security token offerings platform as well. With it, users will be able to tokenize assets such as shares in unlisted companies, bonds, and private equity funds. The DBS Digital Exchange will also offer an “institution-grade digital custody solution”, that will leverage the bank’s existing cyber security technology.
The announcement was made after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) gave the exchange its “in-principle approval” to recognize DBS Digital Exchange as a “Recognised Market Operator”. This recognition will allow the exchange to operate “organised markets” for assets such as shares, bonds and private equity funds. The exchange is also backed by Singapore’s largest derivatives exchange, SGX, which has a 10% stake in the platform.
DBS Group is not the only one set on launching a digital asset platform in Singapore. Earlier this week, Tokyo-based SBI Holdings and Switzerland’s principle stock exchange SIX announced their plans for a joint venture in Singapore. The platform is set for a 2022 launch — after MAS gives it the green light — and will offer listing, trading, and custody of cryptocurrency.
- The requirement to deposit customer assets into a statutory trust comes as a result of a MAS public consultation from October 2022 focused on reducing risk in crypto trading.
- Singapore’s central bank also restricted crypto firms from facilitating lending and staking to retail customers, though the services are still available to institutional clients.
Monetary Authority of Singapore building. The Straits Times
- Crypto.com has once again expanded its regulatory achievements with the acquisition of a major payment institution license for digital payment token services in Singapore.
- The license, for which the company received an in-principle approval last June, enables the exchange to provide a greater range of payment services in Singapore.
- The now rebranded custody arm of crypto exchange Binance, called Ceffu, is planning to apply for a Capital Markets Service license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
- If it is able to acquire the license, Ceffy plans to offer custodial services to only institutional and high net-worth individuals in Singapore.