DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Singapore’s largest bank, expanded its bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading services on its members-only exchange to an additional 100,000 of its wealthiest clients, per a report from Bloomberg.
Accredited investors, meaning clients with investable assets of at least $246,000, can now buy, sell and trade bitcoin and some cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the bank requires a minimum investment of $500.
Previously, this service was limited to corporate and institutional investors, family offices, clients of DBS Private Bank, and those of DBS Treasures Private Client.
The bank reportedly witnessed its digital assets exchange double in transaction volume between April and June. Even more noteworthy, bitcoin transactions alone nearly quadrupled.
However, while the bank is increasing its volume size in the greater ecosystem and is expanding its services to a broader range of investors, Singapore as a whole is still deciding on which direction to go concerning retail investors.
Earlier this month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, released a statement reiterating that retail investors should not invest in the asset class.
“The prices of cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly and investors stand to lose all the monies they have put into cryptocurrencies,” the MAS said.
Still, after the aforementioned warning, the MAS released its digital asset framework expanding well into 2025 where the regulator stated it plans to “enable digital currency connectivity” through a plan named Project Orchid.
Within the framework, the MAS also plans to explore distributed ledger technology, asset tokenization, and cross-border payments. Thus, while the future of bitcoin and retail investors remains unclear in Singapore, the issue is clearly not being ignored.
