After launching its digital asset trading desk in 2021, DBS Bank — the largest bank in Southeast Asia, plans to launch crypto trading services for retail clients.
The bank aims to launch the service in 2022, as per Business Insider.
The CEO’s take on the plan
“We’ve started doing the work on seeing how we get in a sensible way, take it out and expand it beyond the current investor base. And that includes making sure we appropriate thinking about things like potential fraud and others,” Piyush Gupta, the bank’s CEO, said during the fourth-quarter earnings call on 14 February, 2022.
Without sharing much details, he added that they should have something by the end of the year.
Making the process seamless
As per Business Insider, Gupta said that he expects the bank to improve its digital asset trading platform. Currently, customers need to call bankers to place orders within Singapore’s timezone. The aim for DBS Bank is to make the crypto trading process seamless with less involvement of intermediaries.
His plans include turning it into a self-service method, for both instant and online.
In December 2020, DBS Bank created the DBS Digital Exchange. Backed by Singapore’s asset and derivatives exchange SGX, it reportedly recorded a trading volume of USD 819 million for 2021.
Crypto trading future in Singapore
Also, crypto trading in Singapore is under the scanner of authorities. In December 2021, Binance’s Singapore affiliate announced that it is winding up its digital payment token business and withdrawing its local license application.
Meanwhile, DBS Bank reported a 37 percent increase in profit to USD 1.03 billion from October to December.
(Main and Featured images: Kanchanara/Unsplash)
