Falcon Private Bank becomes the first Swiss bank to directly offer Bitcoin and crypto-asset management.
Falcon Private Bank has announced the launch of the first of its crypto-asset management products, thus becoming the first Swiss bank to directly offer Bitcoin and crypto-asset management. Now, customers including high net worth individuals, family offices, and institutions will be able to purchase, hold and sell Bitcoin (XBT/BTC) directly via their e-banking platform or account manager as well as monitor funds in online portfolio or as part of standard account statements.
The launch became possible due to collaboration with Bitcoin Suisse AG, a regulated Swiss financial intermediary, service provider and asset manager specializing in crypto-assets. Bitcoin Suisse AG provided the underlying infrastructure and support for this new product necessary to acquire, safeguard, track, and trade crypto-assets, and serves as the AML-regulated broker of Falcon Private Bank.
Falcon Private Bank and Bitcoin Suisse AG have been working together since January 2017 to develop this crypto-asset management product that has recently been approved by the FINMA, the Swiss Financial Markets Regulatory Authority, after the final review.
“Bitcoin Suisse is proud to support Falcon Private Bank in this historic product offering. Falcon Private Bank is, to my knowledge, the first private bank worldwide to offer crypto-assets directly to their clients. It has been a pleasure assisting Falcon in realizing this product offering, which is nothing less than a historic milestone for Bitcoin and for the entire crypto-financial space. A bank offering crypto-assets is a game changer, as it gives institutional clients and high net worth individuals a counterparty in regard to crypto-assets upon which they can rely: A regulated Swiss bank”, Niklas Nikolajsen, Bitcoin Suisse AG CEO, says.
Bitcoin can be a good investment due to a unique set of properties it features. Although crypto-assets have always been rather volatile, it is necessary to note the obvious improvement and boost in confidence taking place recent years. Now, the Falcon Private Bank aims to cover the gap between crypto- and traditional finance and offer high net worth individuals and institutions to directly invest and diversify into Bitcoin through a trustworthy and regulated financial institution.
“This announcement marks a major leap for Bitcoin as an asset class and indeed for all the crypto-assets. The door has been opened wide for an entirely new class of investors to engage in the crypto-asset market. As the blockchain industry grows worldwide, we are evermore confident that other institutions will follow Falcon Bank’s innovative lead in offering clients direct access to digital currencies and crypto-assets”, Niklas Nikolajsen adds.
This year, the change of Bitcoin status in Japan led to the incredible price jump. On April 1, 2017, Japan passed the law that categorizes Bitcoin as a legal payment option within the country. As a result, the cryptocurrency price surged from roughly $1,130 to $1,500 within one month.
Traditionally, Switzerland is considered to be one of the most important and trustworthy financial markets in the world. Moreover, it is leading the FinTech development. No wonder that two established companies duly appreciated the transparent and progressive regulatory approach of the Swiss financial market supervising authority. Switzerland is now standing at the forefront of trustworthy Bitcoin and crypto-asset business, especially in the region of Zug, also known as “Crypto Valley”.
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