The crypto industry is patiently waiting for the debut of spot Ethereum ETFs trading in the United States, which will ultimately trigger a macro bull run.
DBS Bank Limited (SGX: DO5), a Singapore-based financial institution that has gradually adopted the cryptocurrency industry, holds a colossal stake in the second-largest digital asset Ethereum (ETH). According to on-chain data analysis provided by Nansen, an Ethereum address associated with DBS bank now holds a whopping 173,387 ETH units, worth about $654.4 million, as of this writing. Nansen’s analysis further noted that DBS bank has made over $200 million in profit through Ethereum alone.
We've identified this $650m $ETH Whale holding 173.7k ETH as DBS, the largest bank in Singapore with assets totaling S$739 billion as of 31 Dec'23
This address has made over $200m by holding ETH… 🤯
Track the address on Nansen here: 0x9e927c02c9eadae63f5efb0dd818943c7262fb8e pic.twitter.com/2rkM3cZ6gJ
— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) May 30, 2024
DBS Bank Leads in Ethereum Mass Adoption
DBS bank has grown in the past few decades to a respected banking behemoth with nearly S$740 billion in assets under management. However, the company has in the recent past focused on digital assets to keep up with heightened retail demand from the region.
As Coinspeaker severally reported, DBS bank has already obtained the necessary licenses in Singapore to expand its crypto operations. Remarkably, DBS bank has been focused on the crypto asset industry throughout the 2022/2023 near market with a long-term perspective.
In its recent digital assets update for the second quarter of 2024, DBS banks noted that Singapore regulators are more likely to enact clear crypto and CBDC regulations amid heightened demand from retail traders, hedge funds, and high-frequency traders.
The bank has been accumulating Ethereum in the past in anticipation of spot Ethereum ETF trading in the United States. Notably, DBS bank has deeply ventured into the Web3 sector to ramp up its revenues and keep up with heightened competition. Late last year, the bank partnered with The Sandbox (SAND) to launch a metaverse program dubbed DBS BetterWorld.
Market Impact
The high adoption rate of Ethereum by institutional investors has helped the large-cap altcoin rally over 20 percent in the past few weeks to trade at about $3,769 on Thursday. Already, Hong Kong institutional investors have been accumulating Ethereum through the recently approved spot Ether ETFs.
As a result, market data from Glassnode shows that Ethereum’s put-call open interest ratio, which compares the number of active put contracts versus call options, rose to 0.61 on the Deribit exchange early Thursday, the highest in at least a year. Essentially, the notable spike in the put-call open interest ratio is an indication of heightened bullish sentiments among institutional investors.
What Next
Ethereum price against the US dollar has been retesting the final hurdle to explode towards its all-time high (ATH). The Ether price has closely been following Bitcoin’s price action, especially after the notable change in crypto regulatory scope in the United States.
Furthermore, Bitcoin dominance has signaled an inevitable reversal following a notable rebound in the ETH/BTC pair on the weekly time chart.
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