A crypto wallet reportedly belonging to multinational banking and financial services company DBS Bank holds over 170,000 Ether, worth nearly $650 million.
On May 30, blockchain analysis firm Nansen flagged an Ethereum “whale” as the Singaporean banking institution. According to Nansen, they have identified the whale as DBS, one of the largest banks in Singapore. Nansen estimates that the crypto wallet has already made a profit of $200 million from holding Ether (ETH).
Cointelegraph contacted DBS Bank for comments but did not get an immediate response.
DBS wallet could hold investor assets
While DBS Bank has not yet confirmed if the ETH belongs to them, some speculated that it could be from DBS’ digital exchange for accredited investors. A community member pointed out that the ETH held by the wallet could be assets held on behalf of investors and not bank assets.
While Nansen did not reveal how they got the information, the firm told Cointelegraph that it was from “a reliable source.” Nansen analyst Edward Wilson said that DBS owns the private key of the wallet and that it is likely a part of the company’s custody solution. Wilson explained:
“This is similar to how we see institutions, both crypto-native like exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase custody funds on behalf of their users and non-crypto-native custody funds. The institution is the custodian and is responsible for managing the security of the funds.”
In 2020, DBS Bank revealed a crypto trading and custody service and a platform for conducting security token offerings. At the time, DBS Exchange said that the exchange would not hold any assets but would offer investors custody services.
“All digital assets are kept at DBS Bank, which is globally recognized for its custodial services,” the bank wrote. Back then, DBS also highlighted that it would support major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and ETH.
DBS Bank trading volume ballooning
Since its inception, the crypto division of DBS Bank has achieved great success. In 2022, DBS reported a four-fold growth in Bitcoin buys on the bank’s digital exchange. The total trades more than doubled in June 2022 compared to April 2022.
In 2023, DBS reported that Bitcoin trading volume grew by 80%, which the bank attributed to the crypto collapses in 2022.
In July 2023, DBS Bank launched a digital yuan transaction tool and conducted its first transaction for corporate clients. Its Chinese arm, DBS Bank China, announced the launch of its e-CNY merchant solution that allows businesses to receive payments using the central bank digital currency (CBDC).