Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, is an Ethereum (ETH) whale, with more than $650 million worth of the cryptocurrency, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen. On-chain data suggests the bank holds 173,753 Ether.
Also read: Experts Don’t Have Confidence in Ethereum Like They Do Bitcoin
Nansen has claimed the Ethereum is held in the crypto wallet address – 0x9e927c02c9eadae63f5efb0dd818943c7262fb8e – believed to be owned by DBS. The analysts also revealed that the address has profited more than $200 million from its Ether holdings.
Bank Denies Having Ether on Its Books
Ethereum is a blockchain-based network that allows developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps). Thousands of games and financial apps run on top of the network. Its native token, Ether or ETH, is the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin by market capitalization.
While some companies are looking to Bitcoin as a primary reserve asset, investment banks have turned to Ethereum to tokenize capital markets. As of writing, the price of Ether is down 0.9%, and trading at $3,747, per CoinGecko.
DBS’ supposed Ethereum holdings amount to more than $651 million at current prices. A spokesperson for the bank reportedly denied that DBS held “this position on our books,” according to industry media.
We've identified this $650m $ETH Whale holding 173.7k ETH as DBS, the largest bank in Singapore with assets totaling S$739 billion as of 31 Dec'23
This address has made over $200m by holding ETH… 🤯
Track the address on Nansen here: 0x9e927c02c9eadae63f5efb0dd818943c7262fb8e pic.twitter.com/2rkM3cZ6gJ
— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) May 30, 2024
DBS is not new to cryptocurrency. In 2020, the bank, which had a total of $739 billion in assets at the end of December, launched a crypto trading and custody service and a platform for offering security tokens.
At the time, the financial group said that its exchange wouldn’t hold any cryptocurrency. “All digital assets are kept at DBS Bank, which is globally recognized for its custodial services,” the bank said then.
DBS Wallet Likely Holds ETH for Investors
One user responding to Nansen’s post on X suggested that the Ethereum held by the alleged DBS crypto wallet likely belonged to investors and not the bank itself. The person under the X handle @kirbyongeo said:
“DBS has a digital exchange for accredited investors which has been live for a while, it’s likely ETH held on behalf of these investors and not bank investments.”
Nansen analyst Edward Wilson insisted that the Singaporean bank owned the key to the wallet in question, Cointelegraph reports.
Also read: Kroo Bank Effects Ban on Crypto Transactions
Wilson said the arrangement is similar to how other crypto exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase “custody funds on behalf of their users.” He said DBS “is the custodian and is responsible for managing the security of the funds.”
Cryptopolitan Reporting by Jeffrey Gogo
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