DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, has introduced its first tokenised structured notes on the Ethereum network, opening up products that were once the domain of the ultra-wealthy.
Traditionally, these instruments required a minimum of $100,000 per investment.
Through tokenisation, DBS has broken them into $1,000 units, making them easier to trade and manage while offering investors more flexibility in volatile markets.
The bank has partnered with local digital investment platforms ADDX, DigiFT and HydraX to distribute the notes.
This means accredited and institutional investors, even those who are not existing DBS clients, can take part.
For the initial rollout, DBS is offering cryptocurrency-linked participation notes, which pay out when digital asset prices rise but are designed to soften the impact of falling markets.
Interest in such instruments has been climbing sharply.
In the first half of 2025, DBS clients executed over $1 billion worth of trades involving crypto-linked options and structured notes, with volumes growing almost 60% between the first and second quarters.
Much of this momentum has come from Singapore’s wealth management sector, where the number of single-family offices rose above 2,000 in 2024, up 43% year-on-year.
While many financial institutions have leaned towards private blockchains, DBS selected Ethereum for its maturity, security track record and global adoption.
This makes the notes more accessible to international investors and lays the groundwork for future cross-border applications.
According to Li Zhen, head of foreign exchange and digital assets at DBS Global Financial Markets,
“Asset tokenisation is the next frontier of financial markets infrastructure.”
He noted that DBS has been building tokenisation capabilities since 2021.
The bank plans to expand beyond crypto-linked notes to tokenise equity-linked and credit-linked instruments, aiming to make traditionally complex products more liquid and easier to trade.
By turning once bespoke instruments into standardised tokens backed by DBS’s credit rating, the bank is addressing a long-standing challenge: structured notes have historically been difficult to trade due to their customised nature.
With blockchain distribution, DBS is creating a model where professional investors can access, diversify, and manage sophisticated portfolios with greater precision.
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