Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jul 15, 2025

Singapore’s DBS bank to launch digital currency exchange

Singapore’s DBS bank to launch digital currency exchange

DBS Digital Exchange will be the world’s first cryptocurrency exchange backed by a traditional bank, says DBS chief Piyush Gupta

Singapore’s largest bank DBS is launching a digital currency exchange featuring four top cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Bitcoin cash.

DBS Digital Exchange would be the world’s first cryptocurrency exchange backed by a traditional bank, said DBS chief Piyush Gupta on Thursday. The platform is open to institutional as well as elite retail investors.

A local cryptocurrency expert said the announcement, which comes amid the ongoing Singapore Fintech Festival, would likely boost perceptions of cryptocurrencies as “legitimate investments”.

DBS hopes to have the exchange running as early as next week. It will allow the cryptocurrencies to be traded against four fiats: the Singapore dollar, the US dollar, the Hong Kong dollar and the Japanese yen and trading hours will be from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

The bank has already received in-principle approval from Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, for the exchange to operate organised markets for assets such as shares, bonds and private equity funds.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is a 10 per cent shareholder in the set-up.


A man walks past a DBS sign in Singapore.


In addition to allowing trades of cryptocurrency, the DBS Digital Exchange would conduct security token offerings. These are a type of cryptocurrency tied to actual assets, such as real estate, cars, or corporate stock. This means companies from small and medium-sized enterprises to multinational corporations can raise capital by digitising their financial assets such as shares in unlisted companies, bonds and private equity funds.

Gupta said the “integrated offering” was significant because it would include issuance, investing and trading of securities tokens. Gupta said current cryptocurrency exchanges “tend to lack the possibility that being part of a banking group can bring to this activity”.

“We bring a large origination capability from our capital markets presence. We bring a substantial distribution capability, which includes into our own private bank and wealth base as well as institutional client base. And because we are an established custody house, we’ve built a lot of capabilities and knowledge and experience in managing the custody function as well,” he said. “So leveraging the power and strength of DBS bank allows us to build volume, liquidity and scale in this exchange in a manner which a lot of other bespoke exchanges find difficult to do.”

While institutional investors including financial institutes and market makers can access the exchange directly, retail investors – who have to be accredited inventors – would have to access it via DBS Vickers Securities or DBS Private Bank. Under the central bank regulations, accredited investors are those whose annual income is at least S$300,000 (US$224,000), or their personal assets exceed S$2 million or net financial assets exceed S$1 million.

Unlike other digital exchanges, this one will not hold the crypto assets. These will instead be kept with the banking arm of DBS via an “institutional grade” custodian.

Gupta said the move comes amid global trends such as the exponential growth in private markets and cryptocurrency markets. For example, cryptocurrency markets have grown to over 3,900 different currency types and are now traded across more than 300 exchanges with a market cap of US$570 billion.

Kenneth Bok, the chief executive at blockchain advisory Blocks and a cryptocurrency expert, said it was a significant development given DBS’s “excellent branding in the region” and the bank’s exchange would “give the ownership of cryptocurrencies more legitimacy, and provide for institutional grade protection in owning cryptocurrencies”.

Bok added that banks in Singapore were “somewhat famous” for denying crypto start-ups bank accounts due to know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering risks (AML), so having this exchange “definitely shifts the perception of cryptocurrencies as legitimate investments”.

“This will improve the cryptocurrency cybersecurity standards to the level of banks,” he said.

The future of cryptocurrencies was among the key topics debated this week at the Singapore Fintech Festival, one of the world’s biggest state-backed conferences in the sector.

While acknowledging that digital currencies had their benefits, Gupta in a panel session at the conference on Monday said it was best for central banks to issue digital currencies given the KYC and AML risks.

“You get the benefits without throwing the baby out with the bathwater … so I do think you will find, over the next few years, that some kind of a network stitched together but with central bank digital currencies at the core, could become a reality,” he said.

In the press conference on Thursday, Gupta said meeting regulatory standards on KYC and AML was among the reasons DBS had “taken some time” to launch the exchange.

Bulge-bracket banks have remained somewhat lukewarm over directly handling cryptocurrencies even as the value of the likes of Bitcoin surged to record highs this year.

The European Central Bank’s chief Christine Lagarde last week reiterated that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin – which hit an all-time high of nearly US$20,000 in late November – were “highly volatile, illiquid and speculative”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
×