Family offices tend to be less regulated than standard firms and are among the bigger players that have been looking to get into alternative investments. In Singapore, the wealthy in particular have been embracing tokens, helping to propel Bitcoin trading at DBS Group Holdings Ltd’s digital exchange that serves institutional investors and family offices. At the same time however, the country’s authorities have repeatedly discouraged retail investors from betting on crypto.
Scions from two of Singapore’s most prominent families are boosting their involvement in digital assets.
Whampoa Group, a multi-family office anchored by principals from the Lee family that founded Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and Amy Lee, the niece of the city-state’s founding prime minister, wants to spin out its asset-management business for digital investments. It plans to raise US$50 million for a crypto-related hedge fund, and is seeking to deploy US$100 million for a venture capital fund in the same space, Whampoa’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Shawn Chan said in an interview.
