The Swiss private bank industry is stepping up its efforts to become a formidable world player in the crypto industry. Now, Julius Baer, one of the largest and oldest Swiss private banks, and SEBA Crypto AG are joining forces to offer their clients a range of digital asset services, in a fully regulated environment.
Major Swiss Banks Embracing Cryptocurrencies
The Julius Baer group is partnering with SEBA to respond to its clients’ growing demands for crypto asset services. According to the announcement on February 26, 2019,
Julius Baer will enter into a partnership with SEBA to take advantage of their innovative platform and capabilities in order to provide Julius Baer clients with leading-edge solutions in the area of digital assets to meet an increasing demand.
Julius Baer is pleased to announce the collaboration with SEBA Crypto AG to provide its clients with access to a range of new digital asset services. https://t.co/5ADODyL58s @WeAreSEBA
— Julius Baer (@juliusbaer) February 26, 2019
At the announcement, Peter Gerlach, Head Markets at Julius Baer, remarked,
At Julius Baer, we are convinced that digital assets will become a legitimate, sustainable asset class of an investor’s portfolio. The investment into SEBA as well as our strong partnership is proof of Julius Baer’s engagement in the area of digital assets and our dedication to make pioneering innovation available to the benefit of our clients.
Julius Baer’s move follows the trend set by other Swiss private banks. In August 2017, Maerki Baumann Private Bank announced that it would be accepting cryptocurrencies. And, Falcon bank already allows direct crypto transfers, while its blockchain facilitates investments in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, and Litecoin.
Moreover, Switzerland’s stock exchange Six has been offering a Bitcoin-heavy cryptocurrency ETP for some time now and planning its own security token offering (STO) later this year.
Bridging the Gap Between Fiat and Cryptocurrencies
SEBA, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, aims “to build a FINMA supervised and progressive technological bridge between the traditional and the crypto worlds.”
SEBA is currently petitioning The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) for a banking license.
The partnership with Julius Baer will take effect when SEBA obtains a securities dealer and banking license from FINMA.
Thus, besides providing a platform for storage, transaction and trading solutions for digital assets, SEBA will ensure that these services will be delivered within the FINMA regulatory framework. In this regard, Guido Buehler, CEO SEBA, underlines,
We are very proud to have Julius Baer as an investor. SEBA will enable easy and safe access to the crypto world in a fully regulated environment. The cooperation between SEBA and Julius Baer will undoubtedly create value for the mutual benefit and to the clients.
How do you think Julius Bair and other major Swiss banks’ ventures into the crypto space will impact Bitcoin’s value? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Twitter/@Juliusbaier, Shutterstock