DBS issues tokenized structured notes on Ethereum, offering institutional investors secure digital exposure with downside protection and flexibility.
Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, has launched tokenized structured notes on the Ethereum blockchain. These financial products are now available to qualified and institutional investors through local digital exchanges such as ADDX, DigiFT, and HydraX. This step forms part of the new shift of bringing in blockchain technology to traditional finance.
Structured Notes Offers Crypto Exposure with Downside Protection
Its inaugural product is a participatory note, which is tied to the cryptocurrency asset. As the crypto-prices increase, the note becomes payable in cash. In case the prices drop, the losses of the investor become limited. The mechanism enables investors to have exposure to the crypto markets without a lot of risk.
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Notably, DBS is advancing its expertise in tokenization and relying on the cooperation with the third-party platforms to expand access. This will enable more accredited investors and institutional investor clients of DBS, and not just the bank, to have access to such advanced financial products.
This is an initiative made in a time when Singapore is both increasing as an international wealth management centre. Actually, the number of single family offices in the country reached over 2000 in 2024, which was 43% more than the preceding year. As there are more professional investors working in Singapore, the need of versatile investment instruments in implementation is increasing.
Structured notes are advanced financial products that usually require a minimum investment of at least USD 100,000. Financial institutions design each note to meet an individual investor’s needs. This customization makes them non-fungible and hard to trade.
However, these notes can be chopped down into smaller and identical tokens via tokenization, like DBS does. The same is true with each of the tokens being a USD 1,000 share of the initial note. Such tokens can be traded more easily and their holders have much greater flexibility. This comes in useful in turbulent markets, when prompt and accurate portfolio rebalancing is essential.
DBS Bridges Traditional and Digital Finance with Tokenized Note Offering
DBS’ use of third-party digital platforms also plays a big role in expanding access. Now, more institutional and accredited investors will be able to enjoy these tokenized notes- even when they are not necessarily banked with DBS.
In the inaugural one, DBS is issuing a crypto-linked note. It provides investors with a means to gain access to the world of digital assets without actually owning crypto.The product pays cash when crypto prices rise and reduces losses when prices fall. It appeals to conservative investors who still want to benefit from the crypto market.
The demand of these products is already huge. The number of similar instruments sold to DBS clients exceeded USD 1 billion in the first half of the year 2025. The volume of the trade grew by almost 60 percent between Q1 and Q2 in the year.
Moving forward, DBS will look to tokenize other forms of structured notes, such as equity-linked and credit-linked notes. This will open investors to a wider scope of the available traditional and digital asset classes.
Li Zhen, who is in charge of foreign exchange and digital assets at DBS, added that asset tokenization is the new paradigm of financial infrastructure. He added that responsible innovation and bringing markets more efficiently and accessible to all have been a priority of the bank. The issuance of this new tokenized note helps DBS to deepen its leadership in the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets.
