Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) is considering setting up a cryptocurrency exchange, following in the footsteps of rival lender DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Chief Executive officer Helen Wong says in an interview on Bloomberg TV.
OCBC is the second largest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia after DBS, which set up a digital exchange in December 2020.
“We are looking at it…We always want to address customers’ needs,” Wong says in the interview on November 19.
She also says OCBC is studying crypto technology because of its potential to boost efficiency.
“Crypto can always be linked to tokenisation, and it can be linked to blockchain. The technology can be used in many manners. We are now working on a trade platform to ensure the whole flow of trade is safe, and the document is well parked in an open and transparent manner,” she says.
According to Wong, she has a “pretty strict view” on cryptocurrencies and prefers the term crypto assets.
“This is because it is an asset that people can invest in, and it has value. I wouldn’t call it currency because it is not a legal tender. You can use it to pay for services, it is like a barter trade, it has value,” she says.
Meanwhile, DBS expects to open its digital exchange to retail investors next year, the lender said earlier this month. The service is currently for corporate and high-net-worth investors.
