Swissquote, a $ 618 million online banking group, announced on Friday that it plans to work with Zug based Crypto Storage to enable users to store cryptocurrencies on their platform. This Gland based bank said, institutional investors on its platform would be able to transfer crypto currencies from their external wallets to a Swissquote account and vice versa.
The step took place as part of the crypto extension of Swissquote. In 2017, the group opened a cryptocurrency exchange that enables clients to trade the five largest digital assets including Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin and Ether.
Bombproof Crypto Storage
The retention was the missing link in the crypto infrastructure. To date, crypto exchanges act as custodians that not only raise regulatory concerns, but also jeopardize the security of assets. At the same time, traditional custodians lack the experience of dealing with digital assets whose security is to have access to the private keys of wallets. Such a gap has kept institutional investors from investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other top coins.
Through its partnership with FinTech’s Crypto Storage, Swissquote ensures that the responsibility for storing digital assets rests with a company that knows how to handle it. Crypto Storage provides a proprietary infrastructure solution for managing private keys, both physical and digital, on the highest quality hardware security modules. Which is similar to those of the Swiss National Bank.
Because private keys can be stored as physical evidence. For example, on a sheet of paper Crypto Storage keeps the company’s rack servers protected from physical attacks. CEO of Crypto Storage AG Stijn Vander Straeten reveals that they use military bunkers in a secret location as a shield to protect their servers. Interestingly, even a nuclear bomb could not damage these bunks, Straeten said.
Crypto Extension
In the same announcement, Swissquote announced its intention to relocate the business to Asia. The Group stated that it has established a branch in Singapore and will apply for a capital market service license to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). At the same time, Swissquote will list 14 Asian stock exchanges on its platform for real-time trading.
This move indicates a broader market exposure of Swissquotes crypto currency trading and custody services. Meanwhile, the company fears that its pre-tax profit may be reduced by about $ 10 million as a result of the aforementioned expansion. Since cryptocurrencies are still an experimental service, it is expected that Swissquote will introduce crypto trading solutions in Asia at a later date.
Nevertheless, the signs speak a clear language. Swissquote’s decision to expand its cryptographic services highlights institutional demand. The company has clearly foreseen large investments in this area just like the rest of the cryptocurrency community.