Copy link
Increase text size
Decrease text size
Link copied

Gazprombank Switzerland secures approval to offer cryptocurrency services

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority has approved Gazprombank to offer cryptocurrency services such as Bitcoin (BTC) trading and custody to its clients.

Image by Julian Hacker from Pixabay

Mon, 02 Nov 2020, 06:01 am UTC

Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd. can now offer cryptocurrency services in the country. The Zurich-based financial institution, which is a subsidiary of Russia’s third-largest bank, has been approved by the Swiss financial regulator to offer crypto-related services to its clientele, such as trading and custody of Bitcoin (BTC).

On Thursday, October 29, Gazprombank announced that it is already authorized to provide cryptocurrency services in Switzerland, Bitcoin.com reported. The approval was given by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the country’s financial regulator.

Gazprombank Switzerland is already a fully-licensed financial institution offering traditional banking services to customers. With the recent approval, the firm can now offer crypto services to clients interested in the cryptocurrency market.

The company said that it will initially offer Bitcoin-focused services to a limited number of selected clients. However, the banking firm already confirmed plans for expanding its crypto services to include other tokens aside from BTC in the future.

“The new services will include institutional-grade storage solutions and the purchase and sale of bitcoin,” the bank explained. “Gazprombank plans to gradually expand the offering to include additional cryptocurrencies and other products and service.”

The bank’s move to offer crypto services is in line with its projection of the increasing adoption of digital currencies. “We expect digital assets to become increasingly important in the global economy and, in particular, for our current and potential clientele,” Gazprombank added.

The bank highlighted some of the advantages of its crypto services to its clients. “The clients get access to cryptocurrency liquidity, while the safekeeping of the cryptocurrencies is taken care of by a Swiss regulated bank,” Gazprombank added. “Furthermore, the counterparty risk is limited.” At the moment, however, the financial institution has not yet announced when its crypto services will be available.

Gazprombank Switzerland is a Zurich-based wholly-owned subsidiary of the Russian bank Gazprombank. The parent company is a private-owned bank and the third-largest bank in the country by assets. The bank is also the third-largest in terms of equity among banks in the Central and Eastern Europe region.

TokenPost | [email protected]

<Copyright © TokenPost. All Rights Reserved. >

Back to top
Copyright ⓒ TokenPost. All Rights Reserved.