Swiss Crypto Banks Receive Licenses From Financial Regulator

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has reportedly granted two banking and securities dealer licences to crypto-focused banks.

Two Swiss crypto-specializing firms, Seba Crypto AG and Sygnum have received banking and securities dealer licenses, the banks said in separate statements on Aug. 26.

With the new license, Seba expects to officially launch its new trading platform platform in early October 2019, the company stated. Seba’s plans include the establishment of a digital asset platform for professional traders, firms and institutional clients, as well as custody storage and asset management.

Sygnum said that regulatory approval will allow it to bring its digital asset offerings to market, which include a custody and integrated liquidity platform for major digital currencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and digital Swiss Franc tokens. 

The news follows FINMA’s newly released guidance on regulatory requirements for blockchain-based payments. The guidance targets blockchain service providers including exchanges, wallet providers and trading platforms.

FINMA emphasized that blockchain sector businesses are not exempt from Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer requirements.

At press time, crypto markets are seeing notable gains, with Bitcoin up over 2.52% over the past 24 hours to trade at $10,324, according to Coin360.