Depending on your source, anywhere from 37% to 43% of Singaporeans own crypto (compared to say, 28.8% in Australia or 10.5% in the U.S), making Singapore one of the largest sectors in terms of retail customer interest. So it was no surprise when DBS Bank (Singapore’s largest bank) declared plans to expand its digital assets trading platform to retail investors.
This was announced during a 54-minute earnings call by CEO Piyush Gupta, who has stated that along with expanding their cryptocurrency trading on a retail level, they will also be taking steps to “make the access to the digital assets a lot more convenient.”
Expanding crypto trading services
Gupta, who has led the bank since 2009, has said that DBS Bank is seeking to roll out digital asset trading for retail investors this year. “We are starting the initial work to expand it beyond the current investor base”
The “current investor base” that Gupta mentioned, is referencing DBS Bank’s existing crypto trading desk that was launched in December 2020. At the time, this desk (the DBS Digital Exchange, or DDEx) was limited to institutional clients only, specifically:
- Accredited investors, i.e. managers of wealthy families
- Corporate investors, i.e. SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)
With the announcement that Gupta made during the earnings call, Singaporeans can expect DBS Bank to broaden this limited members-only selection to a wider retail audience. On that note, there are a few hurdles in the way of this becoming a reality, namely technical and security issues. Gupta concludes that it’ll likely take till the end of the year for this update to be ready.
Increasing convenience for existing users
Although the rest of Singapore will have to wait for the retail-oriented asset service, existing users can enjoy the fruits of DBS Bank’s labour much sooner – in a different form. According to Gupta, the bank specifically plans to “make access to digital assets a lot more convenient” by enabling instant online deposits and transactions, without relying as much on intermediaries.
This is a stellar change and one that customers will welcome wholly. Currently, DBS Bank’s DDex platform utilises a rather old-fashioned system, where clients are required to place orders for crypto over the phone by calling a banker. From having to account for Singapore’s timezone to communication issues that may arise, this is a system that is fully inadequate in a world where people are able to send crypto around the world with just a few clicks.
“What happens is that you’ve got 24/7, but the customers still need to call and speak to bankers. So the first order is to make it all online, make it self-service, make it instant and make sure the internal processes are robust to be able to support that.”
Once this update goes live, DPS Bank’s existing customers will be afforded a drastically more seamless and convenient user experience. If Gupta is right, customers can expect these changes within the first half of the year.
Appetite for crypto is optimistic despite regulations
As mentioned earlier, crypto is positively booming in Singapore, with nearly half of the population participating. However, despite Singapore being an overall crypto-friendly sector, the government has made attempts to crack down on digital assets.
Last month on January 17th, the Singapore government banned all forms of public advertising for crypto. However, this regulatory crackdown began even before 2022, with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) requiring all crypto companies to apply for a Digital Payment Token License. DBS Bank was actually one of the first institutions to acquire this approval – but others weren’t quite as lucky. Since 2019, over 170 companies have applied for the License from MAS, but more than a hundred of the applicants have either withdrawn or been rejected, including Binance who reportedly fell short of KYC and AML requirements.
Despite all of this, crypto has remained strong within Singapore, with DBS Bank reporting an impressive $1.5B AUD full-year crypto trading volume (half of which was recorded in Q4 alone). That’s just a single bank, and so it brings an interesting question to mind: if the Singaporean government’s regulations weren’t so restrictive, just how significant of a crypto hub could the country have become?