The Swiss banking regulator granted banking licenses to two cryptocurrency-focused banks – the alpine nation's first. Both projects are backed with heavy financial artillery and high-profile bankers.

Seba Crypo and Sygnum both clinched banking licenses from Swiss financial regulator Finma, the crypto banks said in separate statements on Monday. The move confirms finews.com reporting last month that Finma would opt to grant both projects a banking license at the same time.

The move represents the burgeoning blockchain industry crashing into the traditional banking industry. Seba and Sygnum form a group of aspiring crypto banks jostling to be the first to go live.

Prominent Backing

Zug-based Seba has partnered with Julius Baer, the private bank with its headquarters at Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse. Zurich-based Sygnum's board includes former UBS CEO Peter Wuffli, and former Swiss central banker Philipp Hildebrand advises the company.

The simultaneous approval for the two is meant to avoid inadvertently giving one project a head-start over the other – or even convey the impression of one. Finma's backing comes six weeks after cryptocurrency broker Bitcoin Suisse unveiled plans to upgrade to a banking license in Switzerland.

Swiss Lay Down Law

Separately, Finma laid out anti-money laundering regulations on Tuesday, rooted in guidelines from a G7 task force dubbed FATF. Specifically, Seba, Sygnum, and other crypto banks which may follow are only allowed to send cryptocurrency and other tokens to customers with a verified identity.

The Bern-based regulator said it would not permit the crypto banks to receive or send tokens from other institutions, if information about the counterparty cannot be relayed through traditional payment systems. Finma said unlike the FATF, it will not grant a loophole for unregulated crypto wallets.

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