DBS launches digital investment notes in Singapore

By Vriti Gothi

DBS Bank has launched its digital asset strategy with the tokenisation of structured notes on the Ethereum public blockchain, marking the bank’s first distribution of tokenised investment products beyond its own client base. Eligible investors will now be able to access these instruments through leading third-party platforms ADDX, DigiFT and HydraX.

The launch underscores Singapore’s growing role as a global wealth management hub. The city-state’s vibrant investor ecosystem continues to deepen, with the number of single family offices surpassing 2,000 in 2024, a 43 per cent year-on-year increase.

By tokenising structured notes, DBS is reshaping access to traditionally high-threshold investments. Conventional notes typically require a minimum investment of $100,000; through tokenisation, DBS has reduced the entry point to just US$1,000. Each unit is identical, fully fungible, and easily tradeable, enabling investors to rebalance portfolios with greater agility and resilience in periods of market volatility.

The first product in this series will be cash-settled, cryptocurrency-linked participation notes. These instruments are designed to deliver cash payouts when cryptocurrency prices rise while incorporating mechanisms to mitigate downside exposure. Investor demand for such offerings has proven strong: DBS clients executed over US$1 billion in trades in the first half of 2025, with transaction volumes rising nearly 60 per cent between the first and second quarters.

Looking ahead, DBS plans to extend its tokenisation programme to include equity-linked and credit-linked notes, reinforcing its long-term vision of building a more open, efficient, and customer-centric investment marketplace.

Through this initiative, DBS Bank continues to pioneer the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain technology, aligning innovation with investor needs and positioning Singapore at the forefront of the next era in wealth management.