OKX announces delisting of 26 trading pairs

Singapore’s DBS Bank has announced the launch of the distribution of crypto-linked structured notes. The development will see structured notes tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain, with the product being made available to eligible non-DBS clients across three digital investment platforms and exchanges. In a press release published to its website on Aug. 21, DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, disclosed that its tokenized structured notes would be made available to the investing public via ADDX, DigiFT and HydraX. These platforms have signed agreements with DBS to distribute its tokenized structured notes, which are debt securities that combine various types of financial products into one offering.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashFirst token distributionThe development marks a milestone for DBS insofar as it makes for the bank’s first-ever token distribution. The bank explained that the nature of the note means that investors are provided with a cash payout when cryptocurrency prices rise. In this way, the investor can build exposure to the asset class without having to directly manage any digital assets.While this is DBS Bank’s first token distribution, the bank had launched crypto-linked structured notes for its own eligible clients back in September 2024. DBS asserted that demand for the product has been strong, given that it enables investors to run advanced investment strategies related to their digital asset portfolios. ‘The next frontier of financial markets infrastructure’Commenting on the development, DBS Bank’s Head of Foreign Exchange and Digital Assets, Li Zhen, said that “asset tokenization is the next frontier of financial markets infrastructure.” He added that the tokenized product offering addresses a growing institutional appetite for digital assets. Singapore-based Ryan De Souza, APAC partnership lead at blockchain development firm Offchain Labs, described the product offering as an example of the fractionalization prophecy starting to play out. Access to this type of product would typically be available with a minimum investment size of $100,000. With the tokenization of the product, accessibility is increased given that minimum investment has been reduced to $1,000. Each tokenized note represents a fungible $1,000 share of the conventional structure note product. The development is also significant from the perspective of Ethereum. It demonstrates yet another instance of institutional adoption, which increases both liquidity and demand relative to ETH. Tokenized product offerings are likely to gain further momentum given that they bring greater transparency and efficiency by comparison with conventional offerings. DBS outlined that its clients executed in excess of $1 billion in trades involving tokenized structured notes and crypto options within the first half of 2025. Additionally, trade volumes related to these products grew by almost 60% from Q1 2025 to Q2 2025.Singapore-headquartered product distribution partner DigiFT recently partnered with crypto market maker GSR with the launch of its secondary over-the-counter (OTC) trading service for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Back in March, DigiFT announced plans to launch an on-chain index fund, backed by a tokenized stock portfolio. ADDX, another Singapore-based platform, had joined forces with OCBC Bank back in 2023 with a view towards facilitating the launch of a tokenized equity-linked structured note.

Bitcoin miner Bitdeer Technologies Group’s stock had a rough debut on the Nasdaq exchange, losing almost 30% of its value shortly after market open on Friday. The Singapore-based firm, which is one of the largest bitcoin miners in the world, had delayed its listing several times and saw a lukewarm reception from investors. Bitdeer’s merger with a special-purpose acquisition vehicle called Blue Safari Group Acquisition Corp was approved on Tuesday, paving the way for the listing. Mining across six sitesBitdeer has six mining sites across Washington state, Texas, Tennessee, and Norway, with a total energy capacity of 775 megawatts as of the end of 2022. It has a hashrate or computing power of 16.2 exahash per second (EH/s), second only to bankrupt miner Core Scientific and higher than Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital Holdings. Around one-quarter of the hashrate is used for self-mining, while the rest is given out for cloud mining, which means that customers rent the machines and reap the rewards.Despite the company’s impressive size and scale, Bitdeer’s financial performance deteriorated in 2022, which was partly due to worsening market conditions. The company reported revenue of $330.3 million and a loss of $62.4 million for the year, compared with $394.7 million in revenue and a profit of $82.6 million in the previous year. The company’s listing comes at a better time than last year, as market conditions have improved, and bitcoin has passed the $30,000 mark. Mining equities have also outperformed the digital asset in percentage growth. Differentiation of mining operatorsHowever, Bitdeer’s listing was not received as positively as expected, and the stock was halted several times for volatility shortly after the market opened. Other crypto mining stocks saw single-digit upticks in their share value at the same time. The market is beginning to shift from operators with the biggest scale to operators with the best unit economics, said investment bank Stifel Nicolaus’s analyst Bill Papanastasiou.This shift may explain why investors were not too keen on Bitdeer’s debut, as the company’s financials are not as strong as those of its competitors. Despite Bitdeer being larger than Marathon and Riot, based on its current share price and valuation, it is priced at a third of the value of its two industry peers.Bitdeer was born out of the world’s largest rig manufacturer, Bitmain, following a spat between the two co-founders. The firm is not the only cloud mining firm affiliated with Bitmain that is going public via SPAC, as BitFuFu is also in the process of going public, but has delayed its listing. Bitdeer’s stock debut may have been lackluster, but the company remains one of the largest bitcoin miners in the world.Shares in the newly quoted public company opened at $9.70, sliding to $6.30, before ending the first day’s trading at $7.03.

Crypto.com unlocks regulated expansion through UK FCA licensing awardSingapore’s Crypto.com has obtained an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. The approval complements the platform’s existing status as a registered crypto-asset business, a milestone achieved in August 2022.Photo by Robert Tudor on UnsplashSet to expand product offeringIn a press release published to its website on Monday, the company outlined that the EMI license represents a pivotal step for the firm, empowering the exchange to issue and manage electronic money. This expansion goes beyond its initial crypto-asset business focus, which concentrated primarily on compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regulations.The regulatory nod came after Crypto.com underwent a comprehensive examination of its business and compliance practices, ensuring alignment with the stringent AML and CTF requirements in the UK.With this authorization in hand, Crypto.com is poised to introduce a range of e-money products tailored for the UK market. This move aligns the company with other cryptocurrency firms like Coinbase and Gemini, which have previously secured similar licenses.Notwithstanding that, while some other well-known platforms have struggled with recently introduced rules related to the marketing of crypto products and services in the UK, Crypto.com’s UK subsidiary company, FORIS DAX UK LIMITED, had successfully registered with the FCA in October.Building out global expansionWhile a trend has emerged in 2023 for crypto platforms to expand within regional markets around the world beyond the United States, Crypto.com has been following a global strategy for some time already. Last month, CRO DAX Middle East, a subsidiary company of Crypto.com, secured a license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai to offer regulated virtual asset services.Earlier this year, Patrick Yoon, General Manager of Crypto.com’s Korean business outlined plans for expansion within that market, including the aspiration to obtain the banking relationship required in order to conduct virtual asset trading business in South Korea.Dutch licensing successEarlier in July, Crypto.com received approval from the Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), to extend its cryptocurrency services in the Netherlands.This recognition places Crypto.com among the 36 cryptocurrency-related businesses approved by the Dutch central bank, joining major industry players like Coinbase Europe, eToro and Bitstamp. Notably, this approval followed Binance’s inability to secure registration in the Netherlands, leading to its exit from the country.Expressing enthusiasm about this achievement, Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, emphasized the importance of the UK market for their business. He stated:“The UK has and continues to be a hugely important market for our business and the greater industry. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with a global regulatory leader in the FCA in our collective pursuit of responsible innovation for crypto.”Crypto.com’s global expansion strategy includes regulatory approvals in Singapore, France, Italy, Dubai and Australia. However, in a strategic shift, the platform discontinued its institutional exchange service for professional customers in the United States in June. Citing a decline in demand, this move aligns with the broader market conditions in the U.S., influenced by ongoing legal actions against major exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.