Singapore’s largest bank DBS to offer crypto services to 300,000 investors

Singapore’s largest bank DBS hinted at plans to open its cryptocurrency and digital asset services to 300,000 high-net-worth clients across Asia, the Financial Times reported.

The leading bank received a virtual currency license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2021 to offer crypto services to its clients. So far, DBS has offered the service to only 1,000 institutional clients on an invite-only basis.

DBS Bank CEO Piyush Gupta in an interview with FT affirmed that cryptocurrency services will soon be available to over 300,000 clients in the Asian region.

Gupta said that the bank is working to place the necessary guardrails that will protect its clients and lead to better investment outcomes.

Gupta added that DBS’s crypto services will only be available to accredited investors in the meantime due to Singapore’s regulatory approach to retail investors.

“On the one hand, we want to be a global crypto hub. On the other hand, we’re also very worried about our domestic population getting burned with this speculative asset class.”

Singapore’s regulator to protect retail investors

The recent contagion that led to the collapse of crypto firms like Terraform Labs and Three Arrows Capital has prompted the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to consider new rules to protect retail investors.

MAS’s managing director Ravi Menon on Aug. 29 said the authority will place limits on the use of leverage facilities for crypto trading.

Retail investors will also be required to pass a customer suitability test before using certain crypto services.

Regulation coming in October

Menon mentioned that the MAS is working to reveal a comprehensive framework that will regulate the issuance and usage of stablecoin by October.

The framework will help reduce the risk of stablecoin collapse that has affected the broader financial market.

Menon added that the guideline will be strict enough to ensure that approved stablecoins would maintain a stable value over time.