Singapore’s largest bank, DBS Bank, will launch a crypto exchange.
The news has been reported by The Block Crypto. Based on what has emerged so far, DBS will launch this fiat-crypto trading platform, which should be called the DBS Digital Exchange.
For now, trading will take place with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and XRP.
A page on the DBS website, now deleted but accessible from the cached version, revealed some details of the exchange. It states that DBS Digital Exchange will be an exchange of digital assets supported by a bank. It will allow companies and investors to enter an integrated ecosystem of solutions that can exploit the potential of private markets and digital currencies.
In addition, DBS Digital Exchange would also launch a security token platform, which would be used to digitize assets and then make them available to investors who do not normally have access to tokens. It would essentially allow investors to raise capital from qualified investors through STOs (Security Token Offerings).
Finally, the real novelty would be the custody service. It would not be managed directly by DBS Digital Exchange, but the digital assets would be held at DBS Bank through the DBS Digital Custody service.
DBS Bank and banks in the crypto world
At the moment this project remains in limbo. The fact that the web page with the information about the exchange has been deleted is puzzling. Maybe the timing was wrong, maybe an official announcement was expected.
But what is certain is that DBS Bank is yet another bank that acknowledges that the financial world is changing with the arrival of cryptocurrencies. If banks want to keep up with the times, they will have to start offering crypto exchange and custody services.
It seems a bit of a contradiction with the idea of Bitcoin, which was born to be an alternative to the banking system. But unfortunately, not everyone can do without intermediaries, especially large investors, and this limits the spread of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
All that remains for banks to do is to adapt, alter the original purpose of cryptocurrencies towards their needs and keep up with the times.
