Switzerland may be small - but it has an oversized history in the crypto and digital assets industry.

Ever since the Ethereum Foundation was formed in Zug on 14 July 2014, Switzerland has played a central role in the development of the crypto ecosystem.

Despite its leading role, however, the Swiss banking and finance world has been slow to catch the train. For years, skepticism and innate conservatism prevented Swiss banks from doing business in the space.

Until now, that is.

Over the past 5 years, a growing number of banks have opened their minds - and doors - to do business in crypto assets.

Here is an overview of ten banks that allow their clients to invest in cryptocurrencies - and in some cases - do even more.

The banks

Sygnum Bank

One of two crypto-first banks in Switzerland, Sygnum Bank was founded in May 2018. Its pedigree goes deep in the Crypto Valley ecosystem with backing from Zug-based legal firm MME and its founder Luka Müller, who serves as chairman of Sygnum Bank.

Other big names at Sygnum include Director Peter Wuffli, the former Group CEO of UBS and Industry Advisor Philipp Hlidebrand, who is vice-chairman of BlackRock Switzerland and was previously chairman of the Swiss National Bank.

From its Zurich headquarters and Singapore-based daughter company, Sygnum Bank has expanded its operations quickly with a focus on B2B services and crypto-native high net worth individuals. Several of the Swiss banks on this list have partnered with Sygnum to launch their crypto services.

On its path to strong growth, Sygnum has also courted controversy. It was revealed in April 2023 that Sygnum had done business with Terraform Labs founder Do Hyeong Kwon, who apparently used the bank’s services to liquidate a large amount of bitcoin. Circumstances - including whether the bank was acting under instructions from authorities - surrounding the business dealings remain unclear.

*Sygnum Bank Group CEO Mattias Imbach (Photo credit: Handelsblatt)*

AMINA Bank

The other of the two “first” crypto banks in Switzerland was SEBA Bank. The company, founded by Guido Bühler and a handful of others in 2018, raised an initial $100 million in funding, a large part of it from Singapore-based investors, where Bühler had connections from his UBS career.

Together with Sygnum Bank, SEBA was granted a FINMA banking license in August 2019. From there, it took a slightly different direction than its fellow licensee. SEBA’s headquarters remained in Zug, where its luxuriously renovated headquarters in the city’s old town quarter inspired numerous media commentary.

In 2022, Bühler stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Franz Bergmüller, a veteran of the insurance and consulting industry. In late 2023, SEBA underwent a rebranding and is now known as AMINA Bank.

From its early days, SEBA/AMINA Bank has concentrated more on private banking services for wealthy individual crypto clients than Sygnum. It has also retained a focus on more traditional banking products and services including the AMINA Index ETP.

Maerki Baumann

Despite its smaller size and relatively traditional private banking profile, Maerki Baumann emerged as an early pioneer among Swiss banks doing crypto. In 2018, the bank went public with its intention to offer services to crypto companies and investments into cryptocurrencies for its clieints.

The move may have something to do with its proximity to the other early movers in the space - or the entrepreneurial spirit of its founders, the Zurich-based Syz family, with Hans G. Syz‑Witmer as chairman of the board and Dr Carole Schmied-Syz as vice-chairman. Dr. Stephen Zwahlen serves as CEO.

In early 2024, Maerki Baumann commemorated the 5-year anniversary of its crypto services with the launch of a separate brand - Archip - to bring together its ever-broader offering. Besides trading and custody of crypto assets as well as accounts for crypto companies, Maerki Baumann also offers staking services through Incore Bank, the B2B transaction bank owned by Maerki Baumann.

Incidentally, Maerki Baumann’s innovative focus doesn’t stop at crypto. It has also made headlines through its partnership with Swiss venture capital firm Redalpine.

*Maerki Baumann launches its new crypto brand - ARCHIP. (Photo credit: Tippinpoint)*

Swissquote

Based in western Switzerland, Swissquote has been digital since the day it started. That was in 1996. Back then, the platform founded by Mark Bürki and Paolo Buzzi focused on online trading with an emphasis on FX. Its subsequent IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange in 2000 and acquisition of MIG Bank (2013) and Luxembourg-based Internaxx Bank (2018) pushed it forward and with regulatory approval, Swissquote became Swissquote Bank.

After the IPO hype of 2016 and 2017, Swissquote stepped in to become one of the first banks to start offering crypto investments through a partnership with Bitstamp in July 2017. It expanded its offering with Ethereum staking in 2022.

Today Swissquote offers investment and trading in over 30 cryptocurrrencies. Naturally, as a trading-first platform, Swissquote offers a number of crypto-based products, including ETPs from 21Shares, FICAS, AMINA Bank and others.

*Swissquote was the first bank to aggressively advertise its crypto offering in Switzerland.*

Luzerner Kantonalbank

One of the 24 Swiss cantonal banks that enjoy the backing of the Swiss government, Luzerner Kantonalbank (LUKB) has operated as a typical regional bank - with 26 different locations - since its founding in 1850.

Despite its traditional background, LUKB ventured into the crypto industry, first quietly and then suddenly. In August 2023, it was announced that the bank would soon begin offering crypto investments to its clients through a partnership with Sygnum Bank, Wyden as well as custody provider Fireblocks.

Previously, Luzerner Kantonalbank began working with the crypto industry by offering some select banking services to crypto companies including Bitcoin Suisse - as well as serving as a clearing bank for interbank trading and settlement platform, RULEMATCH, a move that was announced in late 2023.

While its offering and information for clients remains relatively narrow at the moment, LUKB continues to expand.

Zuger Kantonalbank

Founded later than some other cantonal banks in Switzerland (1892), Zuger Kantonalbank is also relatively smaller than many of its peers, with just over 500 employees and 14 locations. But like all others in the cantonal bank system, Zuger KB (as it is known) enjoys state backing and deposit guarantees from the cantonal government.

As the regional bank located in the heart of Switzerland’s Crypto Valley, it would seem logical that Zuger Kantonalbank is also involved in the crypto industry. However, it has taken Zuger KB until mid-2023 to put the piece of the puzzle together.

In October 2023, Zuger KB publicly announced that it would be the first cantonal bank in Switzerland to allow its clients to invest in cryptocurrencies. In cooperation with Sygnum, the bank offers trading and custody of crypto - at present 7 cryptocurrencies including Solana, Litecoin and Uniswap.

PostFinance

The February 2024 announcement by PostFinance that it would be offering cryptocurrency investments to its clients was met with great fanfare. And for good reason.

The “yellow giant” as it is known in Switzerland, is one of the country’s largest banks, with 2.5 million customers and a balance sheet of over CHF 100 billion. It has also been long viewed as one of the more digitally-affine Swiss banks, with various digital initiatives including its fintech partnership with Swissquote called Yuh.

While the bank’s offering is not as broad as that of Swissquote - only 11 cryptocurrencies are available - PostFinance has built a strong base of information to educate its clients.

Bordier & Cie, Banquiers Privés

Bordier Private Bank, a family-founded and controlled private bank with offices in 6 countries, is one of the few outstanding examples of a Swiss bank offering crypto services in the western part of the country. The bank was founded in 1844 and has grown steadily since - while retaining a strong innovative attitude and the traditional unlimited partnership structure of many Swiss private banks.

Managing Partner Christian Skaanild leads the bank and was at the forefront of Bordier’s push into crypto in February 2021. Like most private banks in the space, Bordier limits its involvement to “execution only” services - and this for a relatively limited number of cryptocurrencies with only four (BTC, ETH, BCH and XTZ) available for trading.

BBVA Switzerland

Much like Maerki Baumann and Swissquote, BBVA Switzerland has been a relatively early mover in the crypto industry in Switzerland. Unlike its peers however, BBVA Switzerland is but one part of a larger more global bank based out of Spain. This makes its innovation all the more interesting.

BBVA Switzerland’s first steps into crypto began in late 2020 with the announcement of a trading and custody service for clients interested in crypto assets. In Jan 2021, the service went live for all private banking clients of the bank in Switzerland. In a first step, the bank offered only BTC, but one year later moved forward to add ETH as well.

BBVA continued to expand its offering also for custody, in combination with Swiss-based custody solution provider Metaco.

Its developments and innovation have not gone unnoticed. In April 2024, BBVA Switzerland was recognized by the Global Finance Magazine for its innovations with a crypto offering and its use of machine learning in risk management.

Kaiser Partner Private Bank

Kaiser Partner Private Bank has its main home base in Liechtenstein where it has been voted “Best Private Bank in Liechtenstein” six consecutive times. CEO Christian Reich and his team

In this sense, the bank has both a strong reputation - and a relatively low profile - also when it comes to its crypto services. Currently 14 cryptocurrencies are offered on an execution-only basis, with selected support for some (unspecified) staking coins.

In March 2023, Kaiser Partner became first Liechtenstein-based member of the SIX Digital Exchange’s Central Securities Depository (CSD).

The future

Given the momentum that has been built over the past years - and the current market conditions for crypto investments in 2024, it is likely that this list will grow.

What remains to be seen is how much business banks will do with private client investments - or whether they will seek new revenue streams in the crypto industry through B2B opportunities.

10 Banks in Switzerland Doing Crypto in 2024