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DBS Bank, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, has reported an 80% year-on-year growth in bitcoin (BTC) traded on its Digital Exchange (DDEx) in 2022.
DDEx is the bank’s members-only exchange which offers accredited investors, financial institutions, and family offices exposure to digital assets, namely security tokens and cryptocurrencies. In September, DBS extended its crypto trading function to “wealth clients who are accredited investors.”
The amount of BTC held within the bank's "institutional-grade" digital custody solution doubled in 2022, the bank said in a press release on Monday. The amount of ETH held on DDEX experienced a 60% growth in FY 2022, while the exchange also doubled its membership, with close to 1,200 participants registered by the close of the year.
DDEX also observed a net buy position for its customers throughout the second half of 2022, despite the crypto market downturn.
Read more: Crypto Hub Race Heats Up as DBS Readies Digital Asset Licence Application in Hong Kong
“Since inception in 2020, we have taken a prudent and measured approach towards developing our digital asset ecosystem, choosing to keep pace with the market as it matures and as investors become more sophisticated. We believe that the market has decisively shifted its focus towards trust and stability especially in the wake of multiple scandals that have rocked the industry," said Lionel Lim, CEO of DDEx.
In October, DDEx availed cryptocurrency trading for Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA), bringing the total number of cryptocurrencies available for spot trading to six – in addition to BTC, ETH, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP.
Warming up to web3
Last year, DBS announced that it became one of the first banks globally to test the trading of FX and government securities using permissioned DeFi liquidity pools on a public blockchain through Project Guardian, a collaborative initiative with the financial industry that seeks to explore the economic potential and value-adding use cases of asset tokenisation.
In September, DBS inked a partnership with decentralised gaming virtual world The Sandbox to create an interactive metaverse experience called DBS BetterWorld, which also forms part of its sustainability agenda.
Related: DBS - Now’s Not the Time to Be Taking Risky Bets With Crypto
