Benzinga | May 15, 2021 06:08AM EDT

DBS Bank Singapore Launches Asia's First Direct Crypto Offering To Clients

Asia's largest bank has moved to offer its wealthiest clients direct access to cryptocurrencies.

What Happened: Singapore-based DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) announced they would allow its private banking clients to invest in Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and XRP.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the offering will allow private banking clients to invest and manage these assets in a safe, secure, and structured manner, DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

It also builds on the success of DBS' digital asset exchange, launched back in December 2020, offering institutional investors and accredited investors a fully integrated tokenization, trading, and custody ecosystem for digital assets.

Why It Matters: "Our trust structure allows clients to conveniently hold these assets, with a peace of mind that they will be safely managed and passed on to their intended beneficiaries," said Joseph Poon, group head of DBS Private Bank.

In Q1, DBS' digital exchange held $60 million in assets under custody, with trading volumes up 10-fold.

See also: Goldman Sachs Director Allegedly Leaves The Bank After Making Fortune From Dogecoin: Report

The bank's further expansion into the crypto market comes on a wave of traditional financial institutions offering crypto-centric products to their clients. Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said they were exploring offering clients more products linked to cryptocurrency.

Price Action At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $48,678, down 3.72% in the past 24-hours.

The market-leading cryptocurrency slightly recovered from a low of $46,980 it saw on Thursday after Elon Musk announced Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment.