Scions of Singapore Banking Family Announce Expansion into Crypto
Members of the Singapore dynasty that founded Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp plan to expand their asset management business into digital investments.
Whampoa Group intends to raise $50 million for a crypto-related hedge fund, while looking to deploy $100 million to a related venture capital fund, according to Whampoa co-founder and CEO Shawn Chan.
Some of the group’s other leaders include Lee Han Shih, an executive director of the Lee Foundation, and Amy Lee, the niece of the city-state’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
As for the strategic stance of the Whampoa hedge fund, Chan said that to offset the cryptocurrency’s volatility, it needed to remain market neutral. Except on certain occasions, when a favorable risk-reward setup is identified, the fund primarily trades Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Meanwhile, Chan said Whampoa is seeking strategic partners for the VC fund. He said Whampoa had recently spoken to regional family offices and some major Chinese internet companies.
DBS Bank
As the offspring of Singapore’s second largest bank expands into cryptoassets, they are following on the heels of Singapore’s largest bank. Last week, DBS Bank announced that it will expand its cryptocurrency services to 300,000 of its more affluent customers in Asia through its banking app.
Although the bank’s CEO recently said the bank will be able to safely and efficiently offer crypto products and services to consumers, “regulators don’t necessarily see it that way,” he explained.
Crypto in Singapore
While Singapore has sought to maintain its dominance as a global financial hub through the responsible integration of cryptocurrencies, amid recent collapses it has pivoted to protect consumers.
“MAS has said they want to attract leading crypto players to Singapore,” said MAS CEO Ravi Menon. “On the other hand, MAS has a strict and lengthy licensing process for those who want to perform crypto-related services in Singapore,” he added.
“And the MAS has also issued strong warnings against retail investment in cryptocurrencies, and has taken increasingly strong measures to limit retail access to cryptocurrencies.”
In accordance Bloomberg crypto columnist Joanna Ossinger, the “still wait and see” attitude of regulators in Singapore may have evidently been shaken by recent events with a greater emphasis on consumer protection.
Unlike crypto reform in South Korea, which has also been plagued by recent crypto collapses, Ossinger said the policy change is more “academic” than something that represents a public agenda.
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