The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, plans to increase its cryptocurrency and digital asset offers to 300,000 new clients. In a recent interview, DBS CEO Piyush Gupta stressed the need for reputable financial institutions to enter the market for digital asset services due to recent losses suffered by retail investors in the crypto market crisis. Crypto Clients via Mobile App The reports state that DBS’s brokerage arm has only allowed a select group of under 1,000 institutional and wealthy clients by invitation to use its digital exchange since receiving a cryptocurrency license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last year. Gupta claims that the bank’s 300,000 clients in Asia, including private banks, accredited investors, other exchanges, and funds, would soon have access to Bitcoin services. According to Gupta, “people expect us to be a pioneer in the field and to continue to push boundaries,” DBS can set up “guardrails” and protections that will result in “better outcomes” for investors. Temasek, a government investment firm, owns over 30% of DBS. However, the bank’s development aspirations come after a challenging year for Singapore’s cryptocurrency industry, which saw firms like Three Arrows Capital (3AC) declare bankruptcy. In an interview, Gupta stated the difficulties Singapore’s crypto regulators are encountering, “On the one hand, we want to be a global crypto hub. On...
