Sygnum sees increased inquiries from crypto firms after US banking giants collapsed

by · March 24, 2023

Zurich-based digital asset bank Sygnum is seeing an influx of inquiries from international crypto firms looking for new banking partners following the recent collapses of crypto-friendly banks in the US.

Dominic Castley, head of marketing at Sygnum, told Cointelegraph in an email that they are receiving several onboarding inquiries from crypto firms based in different jurisdictions who want to bank with them. He explained:

“Over the past few weeks, as the current events in the banking industry have unfolded, we have seen a significant increase in boarding requests from various international locations, including a number from the UAE and the Middle East.”

Castley added that the new onboarding inquiries mainly come from investors, asset managers and blockchain projects looking to diversify their crypto investments. He explained that the Swiss bank is putting extra effort into scaling its customer service and compliance teams “to welcome these new customers in a quick but complete way.”

Signature Bank, Silvergate Capital and Silicon Valley Bank experienced a merger in March, leaving US crypto firms scrambling for institutions to do business with.

Although recent events have resulted in an opportune moment for the Swiss bank to work with new clients, Castley said Sygnum would stick to its policy of not taking on US clients.

“Sygnum made the decision not to serve US customers at inception back in 2017 to enable full focus on our core target markets,” Castley wrote. “It has been a fundamental policy ever since, and as a result, we do not take on board any US persons or entities as customers.”

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Amid the increase in entities interested in banking with Sygnum, Castley said the firm attributes this to its two Swiss and Singapore locations and strategy to be fully regulated in those respective jurisdictions.

Sygnum recently announced that it is opening its Middle East hub for Swiss-regulated crypto-banking services in the Abu Dhabi Global Market after securing a financial services license from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.

Following Sygnum’s expansion efforts into the Middle East, the Swiss digital asset bank now appears to be positioning itself in another jurisdiction that is also welcoming to cryptocurrency. Apart from Abu Dhabi and Singapore, it has licensed operations in Luxembourg.

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