The Singapore-based investment company – DBS Digital Exchange – stated that cryptocurrency transactions more than doubled on its platform following the June market crash.
This comes as a surprise since numerous other exchanges, including CryptoCom, Coinbase, Gemini, and Bybit, had to lay off a chunk of their staff due to the price collapse and the consecutive investor outflow.
It is worth mentioning that Piyush Gupta, CEO of the trading venue’s mother company – DBS Bank – is a keen proponent of cryptocurrencies. Not long ago, he predicted they will play a key role in the future financial network and could even become an alternative to gold.
Terra’s collapse in May prompted a massive crisis in the cryptocurrency sector. Back then, the project’s algorithmic stablecoin – UST – and its native token – LUNA – crashed to virtually zero causing multi-million losses for investors.
Shortly after, other entities like Celsius and Three Arrows Capital also experienced significant issues. The former halted withdrawals citing “extreme market conditions,” while court in the British Virgin Islands ordered the latter into liquidation.
All those negative events, combined with the galloping inflation across the globe, the military conflict in Ukraine, and the energy crisis, among other reasons, caused a massive crash in the cryptocurrency market. At one point, bitcoin tumbled to $17,500 – a level unseen since the end of 2020.
Contrary to the decline, though, the Singaporean digital asset platform – DBS Digital Exchange – said the last two months have been quite successful as the number of cryptocurrency transactions spiked by over two times compared to figures before June. Speaking of bitcoin, the quantity bought by users was four times higher than in April.
“Investors today are instead seeking out safe harbors to trade and store their digital assets amid the ongoing market volatility,” Lionel Lim – Chief Executive Officer at DBS Digital Exchange – said.
The surging appetite for digital assets expressed by Singaporeans could be explained by the fact that the country’s authorities are willing to establish the city-state as a global blockchain hub. They have also displayed intentions to apply strict rules in the space and ensure maximum protection for domestic investors.
In March this year, Piyush Gupta – CEO of Singapore’s largest financial institution DBS Bank – envisioned that bitcoin could become an alternative to gold and its valuation. He also thinks that the cryptocurrency industry will play a vital role in the future monetary system.
However, the current volatility of the asset class is still an obstacle. Because of that, digital assets could not classify as “money as we know it,” the executive concluded:
“The other big challenge is volatility in value. If you want to use this to pay for something, you don’t know what it’s costing you. Today cryptos are a potential source of speculated value.”