Swiss Bank PostFinance to Roll Out Bitcoin, Ethereum Services for Clients

PostFinance is rolling out a range of crypto services through a new partnership with digital assets bank Sygnum.

By Andrew Asmakov

Bitcoin adoption is racing ahead in Switzerland. Image: Shutterstock

PostFinance, the financial services firm fully owned by the Swiss government, will offer its customers a range of regulated crypto services delivered through Sygnum's B2B banking platform.

Thanks to the partnership with digital assets bank Sygnum, its customers will now be able to buy, store, and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), according to an announcement. PostFinance is Switzerland’s fifth-largest financial services firm boasting more than 2.5 million customers.

According to Sygnum, PostFinance “uncovered a strong demand for digital investment services” after analyzing its customers’ investment needs.

Sygnum's B2B banking solution lets existing financial institutions crypto products and services, with PostFinance joining more than a dozen of the platform’s other banking partners.

“Digital assets have become an integral part of the financial world, and our customers want access to this market at PostFinance, their trusted principal bank,” PostFinance's CIO Chief Investment Philipp Merkt said in a statement. “A reputable and established partner like Sygnum Bank with an excellent service offering is more important than ever.”

Sygnum and PostFinance did not respond immediately to Decrypt's request for comment.

Institutional-grade staking services

The new partnership also enables PostFinance to provide revenue-generating services such as crypto staking—a process of locking crypto assets for a set period of time to help secure a blockchain network in exchange for rewards on users’ holdings.

Sygnum’s staking offerings include Ethereum, the industry’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Cardano (ADA), Internet Computer (ICP), and Tezos (XTZ).

In June 2021, Sygnum also launched institutional-grade custody and trading services for the USDC stablecoin, as well as for a portfolio of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, such as Aave (AAVE), Aragon (ANT), Curve (CRV), Maker (MKR), Synthetix (SNX), Uniswap (UNI), and 1inch (1INCH).