Switzerland Approves Bitcoin Banks

Switzerland Approves Bitcoin Banks – But With Strict Conditions Attached

Aug 30, 2019
One of the major problems for businesses in the cryptocurrency industry is finding a bank that agrees to work with them and connect them to the traditional fiat financial system. The financial regulator in Switzerland has just made this easier by licensing two companies to serve as tailored banks for the industry and further open up the market to institutional investors, albeit under very strict AML regulations.

Swiss Regulator Gives Green Light to Bitcoin Banks

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)

has announced on Monday that it has issued banking and securities dealers’ licenses to two “pure-play blockchain service providers” for the first time. The new Swiss crypto banks are SEBA Crypto AG, which is registered in Zug, and Sygnum AG,

which is registered in Zurich. With this development they can now offer banking services for institutional and professional crypto clients under supervision by the financial regulator in Switzerland, one of the most advanced markets in the world.

SEBA Crypto AG is expected to officially go live in early October 2019 when a previously announced cooperation with the 125 year-old Swiss private bank Julius Baer

will enter into force. The startup raised CHF 100 million in a September 2018 funding round and currently employees more than 60 people. The company wants to enable professional individuals and companies as well as institutional clients to invest, safely keep, trade and borrow against traditional and digital assets. In particular, the future offering will include custody storage, trading and liquidity management as well as asset and wealth management. For cryptocurrency companies based in Switzerland, it will provide accounts and custody for fiat and digital assets.

Andreas Amschwand, Chairman of the Board of SEBA, commented: “The banking licence of the Swiss Financial Market Authority FINMA is not only a milestone for SEBA, it sets a new standard for banking in the Blockchain and digital asset economy. This moment has significance far beyond the Swiss financial industry.”

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