Blockchain analytics platform Nansen has identified Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, as an Ethereum whale after attributing a significant wallet to the institution.

In a May 30 social media post, Nansen claimed that DBS holds approximately 173,753 ETH, worth $648 million, in the wallet address “0x9e927c02c9eadae63f5efb0dd818943c7262fb8e.” Nansen also noted that the bank had earned over $200 million from its ETH holdings.

Edward Wilson, an analyst at Nansen, stated:

“Nansen is 100% sure this belongs to DBS – DBS owns the private key of this wallet, and these assets are likely part of their custody solution. This is similar to how institutions, both crypto-native like Binance or Coinbase and non-crypto native, custody funds on behalf of their users. The institution is the custodian and responsible for managing the security of the funds.”

However, a DBS Bank spokesperson told CryptoSlate:

“DBS does not have this position on our books.”

Top 50

According to Etherscan data, this significant ETH holding would place DBS among the top 40 holders of Ethereum by market capitalization. This would position the bank just behind wallets owned by centralized exchanges like Crypto.com and Bybit’s Hot Wallet 1. Notably, DBS is the only traditional financial institution on this list, which is otherwise dominated by major exchanges and crypto platforms such as Binance, Robinhood, Arbitrum: Bridge, and Kraken.

DBS is the largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets and one of the largest in Asia, with assets totaling S$739 billion as of December 2023, according to its Wikipedia page. Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, Temasek, is its most significant and controlling shareholder.

Customers’ Assets?

Members of the crypto community see DBS’s ETH holdings as further proof of growing institutional interest in crypto as a legitimate asset class. However, some speculate that the ETH might belong to the bank’s customers. In 2020, DBS launched a crypto trading and digital asset custody platform for security token offerings. According to its website:

“DBS Digital Exchange offers trading services between four fiat currencies (SGD, USD, HKD, JPY) and six of the more established cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Polkadot, Cardano, and XRP.”

A recent report from DBS indicated increased interest in the crypto market from retail investors, large-volume traders, and hedge funds.