Singapore’s DBS Bank Pioneers Ethereum-Based Structured Notes in Landmark Move

Traditional finance meets decentralized future as Asia's banking heavyweight bridges worlds.

DBS just dropped a blockchain bombshell—structured notes are hitting Ethereum's mainnet. No more whispers about "institutional adoption." It's happening right now.

Why This Shakes Up Wealth Management

Singapore's largest bank isn't dipping toes—it's diving headfirst into DeFi infrastructure. These aren't experimental tokens but regulated financial products moving on-chain.

The Compliance Frontier

DBS navigated Singapore's stringent MAS framework to make this work. They've effectively built a regulatory bridge between TradFi and crypto—something competitors have struggled with for years.

Watch other banks scramble to catch up while pretending they planned this all along. Because nothing motivates traditional finance like fearing they might miss out on profits.

First offering tied to cryptocurrency

The first tokenized products to be issued will be cash-settled, cryptocurrency-linked participation notes. These instruments allow investors to gain exposure to digital assets without directly holding crypto.

Structured notes are products with a minimum investment requirement of $100,000, often customized for individual investors, making them non-fungible. The notes created by DBS provide cash payouts when cryptocurrency prices rise, but they have mechanisms to reduce losses if prices fall.

The initiative follows the bank’s September 2024 rollout of cryptocurrency-linked notes for eligible DBS clients, alongside crypto options trading.

According to DBS, investor demand for these instruments has been strong. In the first half of 2025, its clients executed more than $1 billion in trades involving structured notes. Trade volumes grew nearly 60% between the first and second quarters of the year.

Beyond cryptocurrency-linked notes, DBS plans to tokenize more conventional products such as equity-linked and credit-linked notes. 

Bank leaders happy with blockchain moves

Li Zhen, Head of Foreign Exchange and Digital Assets for Global Financial Markets at DBS, mentioned that the tokenization project is a part of the bank’s long-term vision for financial innovation.

“Asset tokenization is the next frontier of financial markets infrastructure,” he remarked. “Since 2021, DBS has been active in scaling this ecosystem by fostering responsible innovation, enabling tokenization to meet real market demand and make financial markets more efficient and accessible.”

He added that the first tokenized product, a crypto-linked note, responds directly to the institutional appetite for digital assets in the city-state. 

“With this initiative, a broader segment of investors can now tap our digital asset ecosystem to build exposure to the asset class,” Li concluded.

Strong financial performance supports innovation

DBS enters the tokenization market from a position of strength. In 2024, the bank became the first Singaporean company to cross S$100 billion in market capitalization, ending the year at S$124 billion. It also delivered total shareholder returns of 51%, one of the strongest performances in its history.

Growth in wealth management and wholesale banking were part of the bank’s accrued success. According to Euromoney, citing analysts at Morgan Stanley, DBS could count returns on equity at 18% in 2025. The economists propounded that this performance justifies a two-times price-to-book valuation for the lender.

While China’s economic slowdown has weighed on regional growth, the bank’s income from large corporate banking and small scale businesses in India ROSE by 25% in 2024.

DBS sees additional opportunities in India’s small and medium-sized enterprises, coupled with its digital and artificial intelligence capabilities and its nationwide branch network. The network was acquired through the bank’s 2020 takeover of Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

Tan Su Shan, deputy CEO and CEO-designate, has been working closely with former chief executive Piyush Gupta to oversee DBS into a blockchain-based phase.

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