U-Turn: Singapore’s Largest Bank Won’t Extend Crypto Services to Retail Clients

Piyush Gupta – CEO of Singapore’s leading bank DBS Bank – revealed his institution will not extend its crypto trading services to retail customers in “the immediate future.” The announcement contradicts the company’s initial intentions to provide such opportunities.

Change of Plans

In February this year, the Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation – DBS Bank – disclosed it will extend crypto trading opportunities to its retail clients by the end of 2022.

Specifically, the bank aimed to make the process accessible by facilitating instant online deposits and transactions without depending on intermediaries.

Nevertheless, in a recent interview, Chief Executive Officer – Piyush Gupta – said the local watchdogs are “rightfully concerned” about allowing digital asset services in the retail sector. As such, the bank withdrew its initial plans:

“But I’m not holding my breath. I don’t think the environment will allow us to make it available to retail anytime in the immediate future.”

In any case, Gupta remained bullish on the future of cryptocurrencies, predicting that “sooner or later” they will become a vital part of the financial network:

“Left to ourselves, as I have said before, I think over time, digital currencies and crypto assets are going to be pervasive. And therefore, sooner or later, I think the world will have to come to terms with this as an asset class.”

Gupta Sees Crypto as Gold Replacement

The top executive displayed his positivity to crypto a few weeks ago, describing the asset class as an alternative to gold and its role in the current monetary system.

On the other hand, Gupta maintained that, as of the moment, the volatility of the crypto market does not allow digital assets to become “money as we know it:”

“The other big challenge is volatility in value. If you want to use this to pay for something, you don’t know what it’s costing you. Today cryptos are a potential source of speculated value, it’s unlikely that this is a source of money as we know it.”

In line with many other experts, DBS’s CEO called upon global regulation of the sector. In his view, central banks should be responsible for designing the regulatory framework.

Additionally, Gupta outlined the advantages of crypto’s backbone – blockchain technology. “It can change how trade finance is processed, it can change how payments and settlements clearances work, it can change how exchanges work,” he claimed.