DBS Bank has indicated that it would not be expanding bitcoin trading to individual investors on its exchange in the near future. This move is being made in response to Singapore’s regulatory constraints.
Piyush Gupta, the CEO of DBS Bank, remarked that regulatory bodies are justified in their worry about restricting bitcoin trading to regular investors.
DBS was originally intended to let regular investors trade cryptocurrency. At the moment, DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) restricts cryptocurrency trading on its platform to institutional and accredited investors. The exchange officially began operations in December 2020.
The DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) was one of the earliest bank-backed digital exchanges in Asia. In 2021, it was worth a whopping $818 million USD.
“MAS has continuously advised the public that investing in cryptocurrencies as financial products is very dangerous and not appropriate for the general public,” a DBS spokesperson said. “Singapore isn’t the only country to do this. Many governments have also taken action against crypto companies’ ads.”
In January, the Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) published rules prohibiting bitcoin service providers from selling or promoting their services to the general public. Notably, Singapore has taken a selective approach to digital asset regulation.
In a recent interview with Forkast, Andrew M. Bailey, associate professor at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, discussed these tendencies. “Singapore’s authorities are increasingly discriminating between retail and institutional activities, and are significantly more receptive to the latter,“ he said. Political insecurity is cited as the source of this disparity.
DBS Bank is Singapore’s biggest lender. It has historically been a leader in all things digital. The global bank was the first to set up a digital asset exchange in the country, and it was very important for the country.
