Leading Singapore bank to launch digital asset exchange

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Singapore’s leading private bank, DBS Group Holdings, is planning to establish a new digital asset exchange, in response to rising demand for digital currencies.

The largest bank in Southeast Asia said the move would increase scope for tokenization, digital currency custody and trading services for institutional investors.

In a recent statement, DBS Group Holdings said the exchange would allow for secondary trading of crypto assets, as well as supporting asset tokenization as a method of raising capital.

DBS Chief Executive Piyush Gupta said the market was ready for the formal banking sector to move on cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

“I believe that the time is right for this (digital assets) industry to increasingly find partnership and sponsorship from the formal banking sector. There are thousands of different coins today being traded on different exchanges, and increasingly you are beginning to find that they are forming an important part of the asset allocation of wealth and private investors.”

“We are on the cusp of a massive tokenization and therefore you’ll find tokenization of all kind of assets around the world and I think more and more exchanges will start dealing with the tokenized assets.”

The new exchange is set to allow trading in four different tokens at launch, including BTC and ETH, which between them account for up to 80% of global crypto trading volume. The exchange is also expected to list tokenized assets, providing access to capital for companies through public token offerings.

The decision to launch comes at a time of increasing demand in Singapore and the wider region, particularly amongst institutional investors. In the week to December 7, institutional investors backed digital assets to the tune of $429 million, the second highest week ever.

Digital currency assets under management in Singapore now stand at over $15 billion.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel on The Future of Exchanges & Trading in a Tokenized World