Yesterday we reported on a game-changing move by the San Fransisco-based digital bank SoFi Technologies: The innovative bank is set to become the first US bank to leverage Bitcoin’s Lighting network for blockchain-powered international money transfers. The bank’s new money transfer service will allow customers to convert US dollars into Bitcoin in real-time and route the funds across borders via the Bitcoin Lightning network, where funds are delivered directly to the recipient’s bank account in their country’s currency. The process will take seconds (not days like traditional banks), will not be stalled on holidays or after hours, and will cost a fraction of the fees levied by traditional banks.
Today, reports emerged that Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, has expanded its blockchain capabilities by tokenizing structured notes linked to cryptocurrencies. Structured notes are complex financial instruments whose value connects to underlying assets or indices. These products typically involve option strategies and require minimum investments of USD 100,000. DBS will be doing this on the Ethereum network.
In a press release, the bank stated:
“Asset tokenization is the next frontier of financial markets infrastructure. Our first tokenized product, a crypto-linked note, addresses the growing institutional appetite for digital assets…Beyond cryptocurrency-linked notes, DBS will also tokenize common structured notes such as equity-linked notes and credit-linked notes.”
As blockchain represents a “Kodak moment” for traditional banks, DBS and SoFi Bank are clearly taking this lesson to heart: Adapt or die.