(Kitco News) - DBS Group, the largest bank in Singapore, is planning to apply for a license that would allow it to offer crypto services to Hong Kong residents as part of the Chinese territory’s push to become a digital assets hub.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Sebastian Paredes, chief executive of DBS Bank Hong Kong, made the announcement during a briefing on Monday, saying, “We are planning to apply for a license in Hong Kong so that the bank could sell digital assets to our Hong Kong customers.”
Paredes said that DBS understands the risks associated with digital assets and is willing to become one of the first lenders offering crypto in Hong Kong once the regulations are clear and DBS “understands exactly the framework” around participation.
This development from DBS follows last month’s comments from Paul Chan, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, who said the region's government remains committed to developing its cryptocurrency infrastructure and recently completed the legislative work needed to set up a licensing system for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
DBS Group originally launched an institutional crypto exchange in Singapore in late 2020. In September 2022, the megabank launched a self-directed crypto trading service for accredited investors, which enabled them to trade cryptos on DDEx, one of the world’s first bank-backed digital exchanges.
Then in November, DBS announced that it had begun the process of integrating decentralized finance (DeFi) applications into its markets with the launch of a trading test of foreign exchange (FX) and government securities that used permissioned (private) DeFi liquidity pools. The test was part of Project Guardian, a collaborative cross-industry effort pioneered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s central bank, to explore the tokenization of traditional assets.
In October, the government of Hong Kong signaled a major policy shift from China when they announced that they were exploring the possibility of lifting the ban on retail crypto trading in the region as part of a plan to boost economic growth by tapping into interest in the digital asset sector.
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BSN expands to the Middle East and Africa
In other news out of China, Red Date Technology, the company tasked with developing the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) – China’s state-backed blockchain infrastructure – has partnered with the Dubai-based fintech firm Singularity Innovations to offer blockchain infrastructure services in the Middle East and Africa.
According to a report from Forkast, Singularity Finance, which is an Egypt-based unit of Singularity Innovations, will also promote BSN’s Spartan Network, a blockchain designed for use in international markets that does not involve cryptocurrencies, as part of the collaboration. Red Date launched BSN Spartan Network in September.
The Spartan whitepaper indicates that the BSN Spartan Network currently supports three public chains – Ethereum, Cosmos and PolygonEdge – in “non-crypto versions” that are hard forks of their original public chain frameworks.
Mo Taysir, the CEO of Singularity Innovations, said the firm plans to leverage BSN’s infrastructure to power international interoperable enterprise blockchain solutions in various fields, including global trade, supply chain, identity, carbon credits, and personal data management.
BSN launched in 2020 to help direct the development of China’s Web3 ecosystem and was tasked with the creation of a global public infrastructure capable of deploying and operating all types of blockchain applications. It is backed by the National Development and Reform Commission, which sets and executes economic policy in China, and is intended to enhance the country’s leadership role in the blockchain industry.
