Two of the world’s most prominent financial institutions, DBS and Goldman Sachs (GS), said they executed the first-ever over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency options trade between banks, marking a major step towards the institutionalization of digital assets in Asia.
The trade involved cash-settled bitcoin and ether options that allow banks to hedge exposure linked to crypto-linked products, the companies said in an email. Such transactions reflect practices long common in traditional finance and offer structured and customized risk management tools for institutional portfolios.
The milestone comes amid rising demand for digital asset derivatives. In the first half of 2025 alone, DBS clients executed more than $1 billion in crypto options and structured note trades, with volume rising nearly 60% from the first to the second quarter, the bank said. Options give holders the right, but not the obligation, to trade the underlying asset at a predetermined price for a specified period of time.
“Professional investors are looking for secure, reliable and well-managed platforms to build their digital asset portfolios,” said Jacky Tai, head of trading and structuring at the Singapore-based institution.
“Our deal with Goldman Sachs highlights how platforms can now leverage banks’ strong credit ratings and structuring capabilities to bring best practices from traditional finance into the digital asset ecosystem,” Tai said in the statement.
Goldman Sachs, one of the earliest Wall Street firms to offer crypto derivatives to institutional clients, said the deal reflects an evolution in the structure of the market.
“The trade signifies the development of an interbank market for cash-settled OTC cryptocurrency options, an area where we expect to see continued growth as institutional investors become increasingly active,” said Max Minton, the bank’s head of digital assets for Asia Pacific.
The transaction underscores how regulated banks are moving to bridge traditional financial and crypto markets through familiar tools such as options, swaps and structured notes. As more institutional players adopt such hedging mechanisms, Asia’s digital asset landscape increasingly appears to reflect the risk and liquidity frameworks that define global capital markets.
