Nansen, a blockchain analytics platform, identified a wallet linked to DBS, Singapore's largest bank, as an Ethereum whale. According to a social media post on May 30, Nansen claimed that DBS holds approximately 173,753 ETH, valued at $648 million, in the wallet address “0x9e927c02c9eadae63f5efb0dd818943c7262fb8e.” The platform also suggested that DBS had generated over $200 million from its ETH holdings.

Edward Wilson, an analyst at Nansen, stated:

“Nansen is confident that this wallet belongs to DBS – DBS controls the private key for this wallet, and these assets are likely part of their custody solution."

However, a spokesperson from DBS Bank informed CryptoSlate:

“Regarding the post, DBS does not hold this position on our books.”

According to Etherscan data, holding such a substantial amount of ETH would rank DBS among the top 40 holders of Ethereum, just below wallets belonging to centralized exchanges like Crypto.com and Bybit’s Hot Wallet 1. Notably, DBS is the only traditional financial institution listed in this group, which is otherwise dominated by major exchanges and crypto platforms such as Binance, Robinhood, Arbitrum: Bridge, and Kraken.

DBS, as noted on its Wikipedia page, is Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets and one of Asia’s largest banks, with assets totaling S$739 billion as of December 2023. The bank's principal shareholder is Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, Temasek.

Some members of the crypto community have speculated that DBS's ETH holdings could represent assets belonging to the bank's customers. DBS launched a crypto trading and digital asset custody platform in 2020, offering services for security token offerings. According to its website:

“DBS Digital Exchange facilitates trading between four fiat currencies (SGD, USD, HKD, JPY) and six established cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Polkadot, Cardano, and XRP.”

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