Singapore’s largest bank DBS announced that its Digital Exchange (DDex) has over S$600 million in digital assets under custody as at the end of last month. That’s triple the amount recorded in September.
This is led by the “strong business momentum” since the exchange went operational 24/7 in August this year. In the two months since its round the clock operations, DDex’s trading volumes have exceeded January to August’s total trading volume by 40 per cent.
A “vote of confidence”
DBS called the response a “vote of confidence” in the bank’s ability to provide robust end-to-end solutions across the digital asset value chain. The bank said it has also seen a growing number of corporate and institutional customers among its participants on the exchange.
Corporate and institutional customers that are onboard DDex include established banking and financial institutions, a Central Bank, and even other digital asset exchanges. The exchange also serves accredited investors and family offices.
Calling the cryptocurrency and digital asset economy “burgeoning”, Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, group head of capital markets and chair of the DBS Digital Exchange said: “What DBS has established is a holistic ecosystem to serve the entire digital asset value chain, from deal origination to tokenisation, listing, trading, and custody, all within a trusted and regulated bank environment.”
“As Singapore continues to establish itself as a hub for digital asset businesses, DBS is leading the way by helping our customers capture value while staying true to our tenets of safety and security,” he said.
Bitcoin all-time-highs
DDEx allows users to trade digital assets such as Bitcoin. It has more than 500 participants to date.
The DBS update comes as Bitcoin hit all-time-highs this month, at US$68,521 on November 5th.
Bitcoin is trading at US$65,795.32 today (Nov 15), almost three times the value compared with its trading price of US$28,984.98 on January 1st, 2021.
Fast growth for DDex
Launched in December 2020, DDex has already hit a couple of milestones in these 11 months.
In June this year, the DBS digital exchange listed its inaugural Security Token Offering in the form of a S$15 million digital bond.
Last month, it became the first bank-backed brokerage to receive formal approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payment Services Act to provide digital payment token services as a Major Payment Institution.
DBS’s chief Piyush Gupta recently said the bank has set a target of opening a blockchain-backed digital exchange to the retail market next year.
Featured Image Credit: Reuters
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