Whale Holdings in Ether Worth $650M Detected by Nansen; DBS Bank of Singapore Involved

DBS Bank, a multinational banking and financial services company, is rumored to own a crypto wallet holding more than 170,000 Ether, valued at around $650 million. Blockchain analysis firm Nansen identified DBS as the owner of the Ethereum “whale” wallet. Nansen estimates that the wallet has already made a $200 million profit from holding Ether. However, DBS denies these claims and stated that they do not have the position. While DBS did not confirm the ownership of the wallet, some speculate that it could be assets held on behalf of investors rather than bank assets. Nansen analyst Edward Wilson believes that DBS owns the private key of the wallet as part of their custody solution. DBS Bank launched a crypto trading and custody service in 2020, offering custody services for major cryptocurrencies. The bank has seen significant success in its crypto division, with a four-fold growth in Bitcoin buys and a doubling of total trades in 2022 compared to April. In 2023, DBS reported an 80% increase in Bitcoin trading volume, attributed to the crypto collapses in 2022. DBS Bank also launched a digital yuan transaction tool and conducted its first transaction for corporate clients in July 2023.