LGT To Offer Bitcoin And Ether Trading Services To Customers In Switzerland and Liechtenstein ⋆ ZyCrypto

It appears that traditional wealth managers have caught the crypto fever. On Wednesday, SEBA bank revealed that it had been chosen by LGT Bank to provide digital asset services to its customers.

LGT Crypto Services Restricted To Switzerland And Lichtenstein With Eyes Set On Expansion

On Wednesday, SEBA bank revealed that LGT Bank will now offer crypto services to its consumers. SEBA, which is fully licensed by Swiss market regulators FINMA, will help the bank provide trading and custody service. Notably, the crypto offering for investors at launch will be restricted to just BTC and ETH.

LGT Bank is a subsidiary of the LGT Group, the world’s largest family-owned financial service provider. The LGT group currently has over $288 billion in assets under management, with a significant presence in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

LGT Bank CEO Roland Matt disclosed that the decision to offer investors crypto exposure resulted from the increasing demand among their client base. In addition, the executive revealed that the bank was focused on creating a secure crypto onboarding experience in providing the new functionalities. Matt Said:

“The demand for cryptocurrencies has also increased among our clients in recent years,” adding, “We are very pleased that we can now offer our client easy access to these asset class. When developing our new offering, we paid particular attention to security while focusing on clear, reliable processes and procedures. They are central for dealing with this dynamic and still quite young asset class.”

Presently, the crypto offering will only be available to selected clients residing in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. However, according to Mathias Schütz, SEBA’s head of client and tech solutions, LGT will likely expand these services to Singapore and the UAE soon. Meanwhile, the global assets managers are also considering expanding the number of cryptocurrencies clients can pick from.

TradFi Asset Managers Catch Crypto Fever

More and more traditional asset managers are joining the crypto bandwagon. As a result, the number of asset managers now offering clients exposure to the nascent market continues to grow.

On Tuesday, ZyCrypto reported that Argentina’s Banco Galicia has also started offering crypto services to its over 7 million customers. The new trend paints a picture of growing crypto adoption, as described by Galaxy Digital Trading co-head Jason Urban.

Urban had stated that crypto adoption was in its “second inning,” adding that institutions are in some ways now feeling scared to miss out as they see their competitors exploring the market and as they see the value of crypto. However, adoption is still in the early stages; as estimated by Urban, we are just 15% there, and we will likely see things speed up with regulatory clarity.