Today digital asset bank Sygnum said it has received regulatory approval for its local subsidiary to operate in Liechtenstein. It’s eyeing delivering services in the European Union with the core of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) coming into force at the end of the year.
Sygnum started as a Swiss regulated bank in 2019 and quickly expanded to Singapore with a capital markets services license, adding a major payments institution license last year. It’s planning to enter Hong Kong as well. It already has authorizations in Abu Dhabi and Luxembourg.
Like Switzerland, Liechtenstein was early to launch its own digital asset legal framework. Sygnum is now licensed as a crypto asset service provider (CASP) for brokerage, custody and B2B banking. MiCAR will be absorbed into Liechtenstein’s regulations in Q1 2025.
“The registration as CASP in Liechtenstein paves the way for a significant expansion of our regulated footprint into the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc,” said Martin Burgherr, Sygnum Chief Clients Officer.
Sygnum provides white label crypto services to numerous Swiss banks, including PostFinance, one of Switzerland’s largest. In the past few months there have been several announcements of EU banks planning to provide crypto services, especially in Germany.
The latest was Commerzbank, which inked a deal with Crypto Finance, the Deutsche Börse subsidiary. Likewise, DZ Bank has partnered Boerse Stuttgart and LBBW with bitpanda. Sygnum will join the competitors vying for this type of business with the European Union. It has the advantage of extensive experience already under its belt.
“Sygnum’s B2B strategy is and has always been to be a global player with a local touch,” said Fritz Jost, Sygnum’s Chief B2B Officer in response to Ledger Insight’s query. “Sygnum’s network of 20+ B2B partner banks is already established across Switzerland, Europe, and Asia.”
Meanwhile, earlier this year Sygnum raised a $40 million funding round. It says it now has $125 million in core equity capital.
