DBS taps Ethereum for tokenized structured notes, but trading stays fenced

DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, has taken a notable step onchain by moving its structured-note tokenization efforts onto Ethereum mainnet. 

The bank announced Thursday that it will issue crypto-linked structured notes as $1,000-denominated tokens, distributed through three digital investment platforms: ADDX, DigiFT, and HydraX.

This is DBS’s first use of Ethereum’s public blockchain for token issuance, expanding beyond earlier experiments on permissioned networks. The bank framed the launch as part of a larger strategy to “scale this ecosystem by fostering responsible innovation” and meet demand for more flexible portfolio tools, according to Li Zhen, Head of Foreign Exchange and Digital Assets, Global Financial Markets at DBS.

Unlike traditional structured notes, which typically require a $100,000 minimum investment and are tailored individually, tokenization breaks instruments into smaller, fungible units. DBS said this “bite-sized” format should make structured notes more liquid and accessible to accredited and institutional investors.

Still, the extent of that liquidity is bounded. Compared to crypto-native structured products — such as yield instruments from Pendle — DBS’s notes will not circulate freely across Ethereum’s open ecosystem.

Kelvin Tan, who heads tokenization at DBS’ global financial markets group, said the aim is to help investors “manage their portfolios across platforms with greater precision and agility.”

“Tokenising a structured note on the Ethereum public blockchain provides eligible accredited and institutional investors with greater flexibility to transfer and trade individual ‘bite-sized’ tokens between whitelisted wallets across different platforms, compared to an entire structured note,” Tan told Blockworks. 

That design reflects how banks are approaching Ethereum: as settlement rails and programmable infrastructure rather than an open market. Tan acknowledged the bank will not deposit tokens in decentralized liquidity pools, a contrast with DeFi tokens, which often circulate unrestricted.

DBS also sees Ethereum as a foundation for future features. 

According to Tan, “the Ethereum public blockchain gives DBS the flexibility to explore future on-chain use cases for the bank’s tokenised structured notes. This could include atomic settlement of token issuances with stablecoins, as well as wrapping tokens for re-distribution across other blockchains.”

For now, distribution remains confined to accredited and institutional investors via DBS’s selected partner platforms. That ensures compliance with KYC and AML requirements, but it also highlights the difference between bank-issued and DeFi-native instruments. Standards such as ERC-1400 and ERC-3643 exist to allow issuers to embed compliance into token behavior. However, DBS has not disclosed whether it’s using one of these established frameworks, or a custom, proprietary contract.

But the bank did say the demand for such instruments is rising. 

In the first half of 2025, its clients traded more than $1 billion of crypto options and structured notes, with volumes up nearly 60% quarter-on-quarter. The tokenized offering extends access to accredited and institutional investors who are not already DBS clients.

The bank’s first issuance is a cash-settled crypto-linked participation note, designed to deliver payouts when cryptocurrency prices rise while capping potential downside. Beyond that, DBS plans to tokenize equity-linked and credit-linked notes.

Singapore’s financial sector has been at the forefront of tokenization efforts under the country’s Project Guardian initiative. While open finance broadly thrives on open liquidity and permissionless composability, DBS’s experiment on Ethereum highlights both the promise and the limits of tokenization when banks come onchain.

Updated 8/21/2025 at 4:00 p.m. ET to clarify that DBS’ tokenization is not part of Singapore’s Project Guardian.

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