Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB) has decided to start letting their retail customers and third-party banks trade Bitcoin and Ethereum from the bank’s app and eBanking platform.
To get this rolling, the bank teamed up with Crypto Finance which is licensed by both Switzerland’s FINMA and Germany’s BaFin. ZKB has also built its own crypto custody system and is working with Fireblocks to make sure everything runs smoothly.
ZKB is the biggest cantonal bank in Switzerland, owned by the Canton of Zurich, and one of the top four banks in the country. It even snagged the spot as the second safest bank globally in 2023, thanks to solid AAA ratings from Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P, plus a massive pile of assets.
Switzerland has always been a friendly place for crypto, but getting into this space isn’t easy. FINMA, the Swiss financial watchdog, keeps a tight leash on crypto businesses.
They need to get specific licenses depending on what they do. These licenses range from a Fintech license, which lets firms handle deposits up to CHF 100 million without paying interest, to a full Banking License that allows unlimited deposits. There’s also a DLT Trading Facility License for trading digital securities.
The Swiss government is constantly tweaking the rules to stay in line with international policies, especially with the EU’s new crypto regulations coming into play.
ZKB isn’t the first big Swiss bank to offer crypto services. PostFinance already did it earlier this year by partnering with Sygnum Bank.
A recent report showed that the top 50 blockchain companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein have a combined valuation of $373.45 million. This is a big leap from $85 million at the end of last year.
There are currently 1,244 blockchain and crypto companies in Switzerland. Zug, famously called “Crypto Valley,” hosts 512 of them, while Zurich is home to 289. Other regions like Geneva and Ticino are catching up too.
Switzerland is also exploring different ways to use blockchain technology. We’re talking about everything from exchanges for digital currencies to tokenization services that turn real-world assets into digital ones.
There’s also a focus on custodial services to securely store crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications that operate outside traditional banking systems.
