Singapore-headquartered DBS Group Holdings Ltd plans to apply for a license to allow it to offer crypto to Hong Kong customers, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

“We are planning to apply for a license in Hong Kong so that the bank could sell digital assets to our Hong Kong customers,” said Sebastian Paredes, Chief Executive of DBS Bank (Hong Kong), at a briefing in Hong Kong.

According to the report, Hong Kong is pushing to attract digital assets businesses. Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan said last month the city remains committed to becoming a regional crypto hub.

DBS has a digital exchange in Singapore and last year widened access to its crypto trading service. The city-state has taken a more cautious approach to the industry after last year’s slump pummeled stalwarts such as the Three Arrows Capital hedge fund and crypto lender Hodlnaut.

The bank welcomes the policies in Hong Kong, and is also “very sensitive” of the risks associated with digital assets, Paredes reportedly said.

When the regulations in Hong Kong are clear, and the bank “understands exactly the framework,” DBS will be one of the lenders interested in participating, said Paredes.

According to local media The Straits Times, DBS launched a crypto exchange in Singapore for corporate and institutional investors in late 2020.

DBS said in a recent statement it has achieved a number of significant milestones for its digital asset ecosystem in 2022.

In September, self-directed cryptocurrency trading was rolled out via DBS digibank, providing accredited investors who bank with DBS seamless access to DDEx’s trading solutions. Today, over 90 percent of trades by the bank’s wealth clients are executed digitally.

In October, DDEx availed cryptocurrency trading for Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA), bringing the total number of cryptocurrencies available for spot trading to six – in addition to BTC, ETH, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP.

DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 19 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, the bank is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

The bank provides a full range of services in consumer, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and corporate banking.

DBS has also been working on decentralised finance technology in joint projects with Singapore’s central bank.

Bitcoin trading volume up 80% at DBS Digital Exchange in 2022