Singapore’s largest bank posts tenfold crypto volume growth in Q1 2021

DBS Bank, Singapore’s largest retail and commercial bank, has announced its first-quarter financial results following the launch of its institutional cryptocurrency exchange in December 2020.

DBS chief financial officer Chng Sok Hui said that the bank saw record performance as quarterly net profit surpassed $2 billion for the first time in history, doubling from the previous quarter.

DBS’ newly launched crypto platform, DBS Digital Exchange, apparently played a significant role in the bank’s latest milestone, as the platform saw a tenfold increase in daily trading volumes, reaching $30 million to $40 million, DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said. 

The CEO announced further plans for the newly launched crypto exchange, including the company’s first security token offering scheduled for the second quarter of 2021.

Gupta also mentioned the company’s collaboration with United States investment bank JPMorgan Chase and Singapore state investment firm Temasek to create a new blockchain venture focused on global interbank transactions.

 “Blockchain can change the paradigm. Money can be converted into digitized form that has been cleared, which can be sent across for settlement as quickly as the written message,” the CEO stated.

Gupta said that DBS and JPMorgan’s blockchain-powered cross-border payments will involve tests featuring the Singapore dollar and the U.S. dollar. “We are actively bringing in other banks so that the euro, sterling, renminbi etc become part of the system. And if we can do that, we will be an important part of a game-changing infrastructure for payments,” he stated.