DBS to expand digital assets trading offerings to retail investors by 2022 – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

DBS Bank was the first and only bank in Singapore to launch a digital asset exchange back in December 2020.

In an earnings call earlier today (February 14), Piyush Gupta, the CEO of DBS Bank, revealed that they are planning to expand its digital assets trading offerings to retail investors by the end of the year.

“We are starting the initial work to expand it beyond the current investor base of [accredited investors]”He said, adding that there are“ lots of work ”to be done with regards to suitability and anti-fraud.

“We should have something by the end of the year,” he shared.

This expansion plan was first announced on 5 November 2020 during the bank’s third-quarter results briefing. Gupta had said then that DBS is looking to open its members-only crypto exchange to the broader retail market this year, but this was “subject to regulatory approvals”.

Today, Gupta said that the bank will take the first half of the year to focus on making access to the digital assets trading desk more convenient for its existing customers.

Since users are currently required to call a banker to place an order for crypto, Gupta plans to make the process of buying crypto online and self-service.

A recent decision by the bank to roll out a 24-hour offering on its digital exchange has caused crypto volumes to surge, with trading totalling more than S $ 1 billion in 2021.

In the last quarter of 2021, its trading volume was approximately US$ 595.5 million (S $ 800 million), which was over double the trading volume for the three prior quarters.

DBS witnessed strong business momentum

DBS Group has flagged strong business momentum after its profit rose to a record last year.

DBS, the first Singapore bank to report this season, said net profit for October to December rose to S $ 1.39 billion and follows a particularly weak pandemic-hit year when profit tumbled to a three-year low in the fourth quarter.

DBS ‘fourth-quarter profit was 18 percent lower than the previous quarter’s. However, earnings for the full year surged 44 percent to hit a record $ 6.8 billion.

DBS said this restores “a trend of consecutively higher earnings that the pandemic disrupted in the previous year”.

“We look forward to the coming year with a prudently managed balance sheet that is poised to benefit from rising interest rates,” said Gupta, adding that the bank expects mid-single-digit loan growth or better this year, after reporting a nine per cent increase last year.

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