Singapore’s DBS bank to launch digital currency exchange featuring Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Bitcoin cash
- DBS Digital Exchange will be the world’s first cryptocurrency exchange backed by a traditional bank, says DBS chief Piyush Gupta
- It will allow Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Bitcoin cash to be traded against the Yen, US, Singapore and Hong Kong dollars and may be in business from next week
DBS Digital Exchange would be the world’s first cryptocurrency exchange backed by a traditional bank, said DBS chief Piyush Gupta on Thursday. The platform is open to institutional as well as elite retail investors.
A local cryptocurrency expert said the announcement, which comes amid the ongoing Singapore Fintech Festival, would likely boost perceptions of cryptocurrencies as “legitimate investments”.
DBS hopes to have the exchange running as early as next week. It will allow the cryptocurrencies to be traded against four fiats: the Singapore dollar, the US dollar, the Hong Kong dollar and the Japanese yen and trading hours will be from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
The bank has already received in-principle approval from Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, for the exchange to operate organised markets for assets such as shares, bonds and private equity funds.
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is a 10 per cent shareholder in the set-up.
