177-Year-Old Swiss Bank Launches Cryptocurrency Trading Service

Bordier & Cie, a private Swiss bank launched 177 years ago in 1844, has started offering a cryptocurrency trading service for its clients, allowing them to buy, sell, and hold BTC, ETH, BCH, and XTZ.

According to a press release, first reported on by CoinDesk, the firm is planning to expand the number of cryptoassets being offered in the future. Bordier’s managing partner Evrard Bordier was quoted as saying:

We have seen increasing demand from our clients to diversify into alternative asset classes such as digital assets.

The new offering is being launched with integration with Sygnum’s business-to-business digital assets banking platform, which provides the infrastructure management that will custody the private keys of the cryptoassets being offered, while connecting to liquidity providers and monitoring transactions.

The banking platform will also ensure the bank follows anti-money laundering procedures and transaction monitoring. Mathias Imbach, CEO of the Sygnum group, said Bordier is continuing its “177-year tradition of safeguarding clients’ wealth for future generations by offering the ‘next generation’ of assets to its clients.”

The cryptocurrency trading service is said to be “execution-only,” which likely means the bank will simply allow clients to buy, sell, and hold the cryptoassets without offering any other type of additional service, including consulting.

The move comes shortly after Switzerland’s canton of Zug started accepting bitcoin and ether for tax payments. Swiss authorities have revealed that citizens and companies in the so-called “Crypto Valley” will be able to pay up to 100,000 CHF ($111,000) in ETH or BTC.

Featured image via Unsplash.

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