DBS Taps Ethereum to Launch Tokenized Structured Notes, Broadening Investor Reach
Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, has launched its first tokenized structured notes on the Ethereum public blockchain—marking a key shift from private blockchain pilots to open, scalable infrastructure as part of the country’s broader Project Guardian efforts.
The new offering—deployed via local digital securities platforms ADDX, DigiFT, and HydraX—extends access to complex financial products beyond DBS’s private clients, targeting accredited and institutional investors.
The debut instrument is a crypto-linked participation note, designed to deliver cash payouts on rising digital asset prices while capping downside risk. Traditionally bespoke and high-minimum ($100,000) investments, these structured notes have now been tokenized into $1,000 units—making them fungible and easier to trade.
According to DBS, investor appetite for these kinds of products is strong. The bank processed over $1 billion in structured note trades in H1 2025, with volumes rising 60% quarter-over-quarter. Much of the demand is coming from family offices, which surged to over 2,000 in Singapore in 2024—a 43% increase year-over-year.
DBS has been at the forefront of Singapore’s tokenization drive, actively participating in MAS-led pilots under Project Guardian. The bank traditionally relied on permissioned blockchains for experimentation but is now expanding to public chains like Ethereum to test real-world scalability and liquidity.
While the launch centers on crypto-linked notes, DBS said it plans to tokenize additional equity- and credit-linked products soon.
“Asset tokenization is redefining how markets operate,” said Li Zhen, Head of FX and Digital Assets at DBS. “This initiative lets a wider pool of investors tap into our digital asset infrastructure and participate in structured products once limited to the few.”
The move reflects growing institutional interest in real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain, signaling a more mature phase in the evolution of tokenized finance.
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