(Bloomberg) — DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said Singapore’s biggest bank won’t offer crypto trading for retail investors this year, citing technological challenges and resistance from regulators.
Gupta said during the bank’s results briefing on Friday that while he would have liked to start the service this year, it’s taking a “little bit longer than expected” to put the technology apparatus together. In addition, regulators aren’t comfortable with cryptocurrency trading for retail customers, he said. DBS currently offers crypto trading only for accredited investors.
DBS will explore expanding crypto trading to retail investors in 2023 at the earliest, Gupta said.
Singapore’s central bank opposes retail crypto trading as too risky, a position Managing Director Ravi Menon reaffirmed this week. That stance, which prompted the Monetary Authority of Singapore to clamp down on crypto marketing this year, makes it tricky for companies to capitalize on investor enthusiasm in a country where an estimated four out of 10 people own digital assets.
Singapore’s Crypto Rules Must Be Strict But Clear, MAS Head Says
Some 40% of Singaporeans own at least one cryptocurrency, according to a study from crypto exchange Independent Reserve published Friday. Independent Reserve surveyed more than 1,500 residents in February.
DBS itself has been active in the digital-asset space for some time. In early 2021, it announced an interbank platform that uses blockchain technology in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Temasek. Its private bank started Asia’s first bank-backed trust solution for cryptocurrencies in May last year.
Singapore is seeking to foster institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies, in part through a licensing process that has seen more than 170 firms apply. So far, only a small fraction have gotten approved. At the same time, the MAS has made it clear that it considers crypto trading too risky for retail investors.
In another step of regulatory tightening, Singapore this month passed a law that will require virtual asset service providers in the city-state to be licensed locally, even if they only do business overseas.
Amid those changes, some crypto firms are moving to Dubai, which is trying to establish itself as a global hub for the industry. Digital asset exchange Bybit and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital have announced plans to move their headquarters from Singapore to Dubai.
(Updates with further context starting in fifth paragraph.)
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