A recent tweet by blockchain analysis firm Nansen caused some buzz in crypto news circles, as it traced a large Ethereum wallet to DBS bank.
The Nansen 2 AI identified DBS bank as the holder of a blockchain address containing 173K Ethereum, valued at USD$650 million. This wallet is the 40th largest ETH holding in the world.
“We have it under good authority, via several independent sources, that DBS owns the private key of this wallet and these assets are most likely a part of their custody solution,” Edward Wilson, a Nansen analyst, told Decrypt.
“This may be similar to how we see institutions, both crypto native, like exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase custody funds on behalf of their users and how non-crypto native funds custody digital assets for their clients. The institution may be the custodian and responsible for managing the security of the funds.”
Edward Wilson, Nansen
DBS responded to media inquiries over this holding, stating in an email, “In relation to the post, DBS does not have this position on our books”.
When asked if the bank uses custody funds on behalf of its crypto clients, DBS did not respond.
DBS launched its own cryptocurrency exchange in 2020
DBS launched an institutional cryptocurrency digital exchange in 2020, and, as Vulcan Post reported, it was experiencing daily trade volumes of up to S$40 million by mid-2021, with a Retail Digital Assets Trading Desk going live in 2022.
In a coindesk.com article from October 2023, Evy Theunis, head of digital assets at DBS’ institutional banking group, stated that digital assets under DBS custody grew 150% year-on-year by Q2 2023, and the $200 million profit made from this ETH holding demonstrates why crypto clients have been turning to Singapore’s biggest banking institution to manage their cryptocurrency holdings.
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