Lack of access to custodians that institutional investors know and trust is seen as a major hurdle for growing the sector. Thankfully, the demand has caused a flurry of companies to enter the business, with the latest being online bank Swissquote.
Also Read: UK Regulator: 3% of Brits Have Bought Cryptocurrency
Swissquote to Use Services of Crypto Finance AG
Swissquote, a provider of online financial and trading services from Switzerland, announced its yearly results for 2018 on Friday. The report included an update about an upcoming expansion of the bank’s crypto services. Starting March 21, it will be possible to transfer cryptocurrencies from external wallets to a Swissquote account and vice-versa. “Swissquote will therefore become a secure and technologically fully integrated cryptocurrency trading platform and depositary for private and institutional clients alike,” the company explained.
For the purpose of adding these custodial offerings for digital assets investors, the Swiss bank will use the services of Crypto Storage AG. This fintech startup was founded in June 2017 and provides blockchain-related services in three main categories: asset management, brokerage, and storage. It offers a proprietary infrastructure solution developed in Switzerland to manage private keys, both physical and digital, on high grade hardware security modules with configuration options for individual and role-based access control. Crypto Finance has offices in Zurich, and is based at Crypto Valley in Zug.
Online Swiss Bank Supporting Crypto Since 2017
Swissquote first begun offering cryptocurrency trading in mid-2017 in partnership with Bitstamp, and the service was then expanded further at the end of the year to cover five popular digital assets, bitcoin core (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and Ripple’s XRP. In addition, the bank launched Swissquote Bitcoin Active Index (SQXBTQ) on the SIX Swiss Exchange in November 2017.
In October 2018 the bank also expanded the service to support its clients participating in initial coin offerings (ICOs) through the platform. Swissquote is a member of the Swiss Bankers Association, holds a banking license issued by the Swiss Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), and its parent company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
What do you think about this Swiss online bank adding crypto custodial services? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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