Major Swiss banks are now getting involved: What you need to know now if you want to trade Bitcoin

“Many Swiss commercial banks are now much more open to the topic of cryptocurrencies and public blockchains than they were a few years ago,” says Fabian Schär (35), professor of blockchain and fintech at the University of Basel. “At that time, all banks wanted to create their own blockchains.” It is a rather unusual idea for commercial banks to not have the infrastructure completely under their control. However, many banks have now realized that a comprehensive solution provides advantages.

Recently, the number of large banks that want to offer their services via blockchain is increasing. Despite the late login, they can earn points with the high security standards and reliability they gain from traditional financial services.

“Classic” Swiss banks offering cryptocurrency trading to private individuals are still rare. In addition to Zuger Kantonalbank, Valiant Bank also launched a corresponding offer in the summer. Mortgage Bank Lenzburg offers business customers the opportunity to store tokenized securities and cryptocurrencies. However, the offer is not yet available for private customers.

According to the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), there are a total of around 20 banks operating in the crypto sector in this country. Most of them are specialized financial services providers with banking licenses, such as Swissquote, Sygnum or Seba trading platforms.

When trading privately, a key and a password need to be stored for your own wallet, i.e. your own crypto portfolio. Anyone who loses these two security keys will also lose their digital assets. The biggest advantage of banks is exactly at this point: With the offer of Zuger Kantonalbank, trade is carried out via e-banking. This provides support in case you forget your password.

However, banks do not cover all expenses. Following developments and trends in international crypto markets remains a special topic. Because rapid and high price fluctuations are not uncommon. Banks do not carry the risks of crypto investing, namely the risk of losing a lot of money. The motto is still: Invest only what you are willing to lose.

Joining the bank makes it safer and easier to trade cryptocurrency, but it certainly doesn’t make it any less risky.

Luzerner Kantonalbank also wants to enter crypto trading soon. The offering for private customers is expected to be available early next year. Postfinance also wants to offer digital currencies to customers by spring. Others, such as top UBS and most of the cantonal banks, have not yet announced plans to enter the market. For what reason? “Such projects should generally not be taken lightly,” says Schär. “Technical, economic and regulatory issues must be carefully clarified.”