Singapore’s DBS Bank is looking to start digital asset trading in Hong Kong. It was one of the first banks to start trading cryptocurrency globally, launching its Singapore-based DBS Digital Exchange in late 2020.

“We are planning to apply for a license in Hong Kong so that the bank can sell digital assets to our Hong Kong customers,” said Sebastián Paredes, CEO of DBS Bank (Hong Kong), according to Bloomberg.

Paredes said the bank is cautious, but once it has a better understanding of the planned framework, it will explore the possibility of participating.

In a policy statement in late October, the Hong Kong government signaled a cautious but slightly more open approach to offering crypto assets or virtual asset services to retail investors.

However, in the home territory of DBS Bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore wishes to protect retail investors as much as possible.

“As regulators think about retail offerings, and different regulators look at it differently, we will consider what is the right thing to do,” DBS group CEO Piyush Gupta said during an earnings call today. “Taking into account suitability, expediency. Acknowledging the crypto crash that happened in the last year. So we have to be thoughtful about that.”

DBS Singapore Digital Asset Volumes Grow 70%

For now, DBS Digital Exchange is only open to accredited and professional investors, which the CEO of the DBS group believes is a market of tens of thousands rather than millions.

Nonetheless, he said volumes were up around 70%, more for Bitcoin (80%) than Ethereum (60%). However, given falling crypto valuations, that means the monetary value is flat. The general manager added that revenue is small but will increase by 60-70% this year.

“Being a regulated entity exchange is a benefit in this environment when many other exchanges are under question and scrutiny. So let’s stay the course,” Gupta said.

“We believe there are many opportunities in the future,” he added.

Meanwhile, DBS is also involved in other institutional activities. He is a patron of Partior, the blockchain-based payments firm that he co-founded with JP Morgan and Temasek. He has also executed repo transactions on the JP Morgan blockchain and is experimenting with DeFi alongside JP Morgan, SBI and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.