The Singaporean government-owned megabank DBS is one of the few companies around the world that reaped huge profits from the massive crashes within the crypto industry in 2022.
DBS Digital Exchange, DBS Bank’s institutional cryptocurrency trading platform, saw a significant increase in Bitcoin (BTC) trading volumes last year. According to DBS Digital Exchange CEO Lionel Lim, the number of DBS cryptocurrency clients more than doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year.
“Bitcoin eating volume grew 80% on the digital exchange during the same period,” Lim stated in an interview with Cointelegraph on May 8.
The executive believes that the rebound in demand for cryptocurrency services on the DBS Digital Exchange is a consequence of the collapses of several exchanges in 2022. Lim noted that DBS continues to see an increasing trend in volumes. He affirmed: He declared:
“DBS continues to benefit from the flight to security and quality following the implosion of several exchanges last year.”
Evy Theunis, head of digital assets at DBS Bank, also told Cointelegraph that DBS has seen more cooperation inquiries from blockchain and digital asset firms in recent months.
Launched in 2020, DBS’s cryptocurrency exchange exclusively caters to institutional investors. Despite considering expanding its services to retail clients last year, as of May 2023 DBS will remain a members-only exchange serving corporate and institutional investors, Lim noted.
FTX is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges that went under in 2022. Before FTX crashed in November 2022, the platform traded a significant amount of cryptocurrency from institutional investors. In March 2022, FTX launched a unit dedicated to working with institutions. At the time, around two-thirds of the trading volumes on FTX and FTX.US reportedly came from institutional accounts.
Although he indicates a positive impact from crypto exchange crashes in 2022, the CEO of DBS Digital Exchange does not see any influence coming from the current banking crisis in the United States.
“Some of our market makers sought new USD banking avenues following the collapse of crypto-friendly US banks,” Lim said. However, there has not been any direct impact on the DBS exchange, he noted, stating:
“The collapse of US banks has not affected our portfolio of products and services. That said, we are closely monitoring these developments and are prepared to adjust our plans if necessary.”
Despite being a crypto-friendly bank, DBS is not concerned about the risks that supposedly stem from its cryptocurrency exposure.
“DBS does not remortgage or trade clients’ digital assets held in custody. As such, there is no liquidity risk,” Lim told Cointelegraph. “Our clients’ digital assets are held in custody at DBS Bank, separate from the DBS Digital Exchange,” the CEO noted.
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