DBS Launches Crypto Trust in a First for Asia
During a recent earnings call, the bank said it had $80 million in assets under custody and $23-$30 million trading volume amongst its 120 clients.
Source: Shutterstock
key takeaways
key takeaways
- DBS announced it would support bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and XRP in its trust offering
- During an earnings call in late April, the bank said that its digital asset trading business is building “steadily”
Singapore-based DBS Bank, one of Southeast Asia’s largest by market cap, announced Friday that it had launched a crypto trust offering, allowing clients of its digital assets exchange business to custody their crypto with the bank.
“Our trust structure allows clients to conveniently hold these assets, with a peace of mind that they will be safely managed and passed on to their intended beneficiaries,” said Joseph Poon, group head of DBS Private Bank, in a statement. “In recent years, more clients have expressed interest or are already invested in digital assets and we expect this trend to accelerate as cryptocurrencies turn more mainstream.”
During a recent earnings call, the bank said it had $80 million in assets under custody and $23-$30 million trading volume amongst its 120 clients. While these numbers might seem small, the bank said that its very selective on whom it brings on and the product offering is targeted towards professional investors and wealth managers.
As of now its trust and exchange business is limited to four crypto assets — bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and XRP — and the Singapore dollar, Hong Kong dollar, US dollar and Japanese yen as fiat trading pairs.
The bank intends to offer a security token offering later this year, and expand its trading hours to overlap with the US work day.
