It’s Official! Singapore’s Banking Giant DBS To Launch A Crypto Exchange Next Week

In an official announcement, Singapore’s largest banking institution DBS said that it will be launching its own digital currency trading platform dubbed the DBS Digital Exchange. The official announcement comes weeks after rumors started floating following a potential leak from the DBS website.

On Thursday, December 10, DBS chief Piyush Gupta said that this is the world’s first digital currency exchange supported by a traditional bank. As per the announcement by SCMP, the DBS Digital Exchange will support four top crypto cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

All these four cryptocurrencies shall be paired against fiats like the US Dollar, the Singapore Dollar, the Japanese Yen, and the Hong Kong Dollar. Interestingly, the exchange will commence its operations starting next week and will be functional five days a week – Monday to Friday – with trading hours between 9 am to 5 pm. Unlike other crypto exchanges working 24×7, all seven days of the week, the DBS Digital Exchange will function more like the traditional stock exchanges.

The DBS Bank has already received approval from Singapore’s top regulator – the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The DBS Digital Exchanges will also operate organized markets like bonds, shares, and private equity funds.

DBS Digital Exchange to Offer Security Token Offerings

DBS said that it has also received permission to offer security tokens tied to actual assets like corporate stocks or real estate. The DBS chief Mr. Gupta has said that the “integrated offering” is important as it includes investing, issuance, and trading of security tokens. In a detailed statement, Mr. Gupta added:

“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.

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.”

Both institutional players and retail investors will have access to the DBS Digital Exchange. The accredited investors can also access it through the DBS Private Bank or DBS Vickers Securities. Earlier this week, speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival. Mr. Gupta noted that digital currencies have a crucial role to play in shaping the future of finance.