Full List of Asian Banks Opening Crypto Trading to Retail Clients

To stay in line with the ongoing transformation in the global traditional finance space, Asian banks are at the forefront of integrating conventional banking services with high-risk yet popular digital assets. For years, was primarily limited to dedicated platforms; however, a few ambitious Asian banks now include digital currencies such as BTC, ETH, and stablecoins in their banking apps for regular clients. With clearer regulatory guidelines in financial hubs (including Hong Kong and the UAE) and by leveraging the security of well-known financial institutions, this integration will boost customers’ confidence and increase the ease of .

This guide highlights the list of Asian banks that offer direct access to retail clients to trade supported crypto assets or restrict them to platform platforms using licensed institutional investors.

Key Takeaways

• Hong Kong’s ZA Bank is considered Asia’s first bank to offer direct crypto trading to retail users via its main banking app, simplifying the process.
• The trend is largely centered in those jurisdictions that possess well-established regulatory frameworks for virtual assets, such as Hong Kong and the UAE.
• Some banks, including DBS and Mizuho, do not cater to retail clients but only offer restricted access to accredited and institutional investors.

Banks Offering Direct Retail Crypto Trading

The list of traditional, fully licensed banks offering direct-to-retail crypto trading is still short but significant, marking a major turning point in the .

ZA Bank

ZA Bank, a digital-only bank in Hong Kong, made headlines by emerging as the region’s first licensed bank to offer cryptocurrency trading services directly to retail users.

• Location: Hong Kong
• Retail offering: Yes, direct trading through the main ZA Bank app.
• Supported assets: Primarily BTC (BTC) and ETH (ETH).
• Currency pairs: HKD and USD.
• Key feature: The service is deeply integrated, allowing users to trade crypto directly using their fiat currency (HKD or USD) savings account balance without needing to transfer funds to a separate platform platform. The service is provided in partnership with HashKey platform, a licensed virtual asset platform in Hong Kong, to ensure compliance and bank-grade security.

RAKBANK

RAKBANK (The National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah) stands out in the Middle East, which is often grouped with the broader Asian market in terms of financial trends. It was the first conventional bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to offer a crypto brokerage service to its retail customers.

• Location: UAE
• Retail offering: Yes, through the RAKBANK crypto brokerage platform integrated into the RAKBANK app.
• Supported assets: A selection of major coins, including BTC (BTC), ETH (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Ripple (XRP), among others.
• Currency pairs: Trading is through the local currency, AED.
• Key feature: The service is provided in collaboration with Bitpanda, a regulated European investment platform. This partnership allows customers to purchase, trade, and swap cryptocurrencies directly within the RAKBANK app, using their existing AED accounts.

Banks with Restricted or Indirect Access for Retail Clients

While the following major Asian banks are heavily involved in digital assets, their services for the general retail client base are either restricted or focused on institutional/high-net-worth investors.

DBS Bank

DBS Bank, a multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Singapore, offers robust crypto services through its platform, but not to every client.

• Location: Singapore
• Retail Offering: Crypto trading is offered through the DBS Digital platform (DDEx).
• Eligibility: The DDEx platform is designed for accredited investors (a classification often based on high income or net worth) and institutional investors. It is not accessible directly by retail investors in general.

High-net-worth individual investors can typically access the platform through a member, for instance, DBS Private Bank.

SBI Sumishin Net Bank

As a “crypto-friendly” bank, its services include a single user-friendly application for the full range of banking operations. It can be used to deposit Japanese Yen (JPY) into a licensed such as BitFlyer.

• Location: Japan
• Retail offering: Primarily facilitated through the broader SBI Group’s crypto-asset platform platforms, such as SBI VC Trade and BITPoint Japan.
• Eligibility: It is noted for providing an internet-only banking service and for tokenization, lending, and asset management services, with crypto trading generally noted as being accessible only to institutional investors within the bank’s direct services, relying on the SBI Group’s platforms for retail.

Mizuho Bank

Mizuho was previously reported as leading a consortium of banks to develop a cryptocurrency known as J-coin.

• Location: Japan
• Retail offering: It is a major participant in the Progmat DLT-based tokenization network, alongside MUFG and SMBC, which is focused on issuing stablecoins. It has also developed an embedded finance answer called “House Coin” for specific payment services. 
• Eligibility: While Mizuho is involved in blockchain technology and digital assets, its direct crypto trading services are typically noted as being for institutional investors only, not the general retail public.

Bottom Line

The complete integration of cryptocurrency trading into mainstream banking apps, spearheaded by innovators such as ZA Bank in Hong Kong and RAKBANK in the UAE, represents the tipping point. It answers unprecedented consumer calls for a simpler, securer, and regulated on-ramp to the digital economy. With regulatory clarity increasing across the region, particularly in international financial hubs, the number of Asian banks that offer retail crypto trading is expected to grow, further establishing Asia as a key location for the integration of traditional finance and the decentralized digital economy.