Private Swiss Bank Falcon Group Offers Bitcoin Asset Management

On July 12 the Switzerland-based private bank Falcon Group announced the bank will offer bitcoin asset management for their customers. Through a partnership with Bitcoin Suisse AG, the bank’s clients will be able to purchase and store the decentralized currency using their account funds.

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Falcon Group Becomes the First Swiss Private Bank to Offer XBT/ BTC Asset Management

Over the past few months, a few banks have been integrating bitcoin asset management into their banking platforms. In May, Norway’s largest online bank Skandiabanken announced bitcoin accounts for customers, and Fidelity Investment’s just revealed a collaboration with Coinbase that will offer digital asset management as well. Now Falcon Group will become the first Swiss private bank to provide blockchain asset management solutions for its clients. The financial institutions first feature service will allow customers to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin (XBT/BTC) through the bank.

Falcon Group is a well-known bank based in Zurich that manages CHF 14.6 billion in customer assets worldwide. The financial institution also has offices in Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, and London. The company announced earlier that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) had given Falcon Private Bank the approval, making the bank the first Swiss banking institution to offer Bitcoin. Further, the firm has also installed a Bitcoin ATM for clients in the lobby of Falcon’s Zurich branch at Pelikanstrasse 37.

“Following our strategic partnership with Move Digital, a best-in-class provider of digital asset management and investment advisory systems, this is a further tangible element of our new strategy,” explains Arthur Vayloyan, Global Head Products & Services, Falcon Private Bank Ltd.

We are proud to be the first-mover in the Swiss private banking area to provide blockchain asset management for our clients. Falcon is convinced that the time is right to enter this nascent market and it is our firm belief that this new product will fulfill our clients’ future needs.

‘Bridging the Gap Between Crypto and Traditional Finance’

Founded in 2013, the firm Bitcoin Suisse AG assisted the Falcon Group’s recent integration and believes the decision is a huge milestone for the entire crypto-space. Bitcoin Suisse AG will provide the underlying infrastructure and support for this new product offering, and acts as the AML-regulated broker of Falcon Private Bank. As Falcon’s crypto-asset broker and infrastructure partner, Bitcoin Suisse AG will safeguard, track, and trade crypto-assets for institutional clients.

“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,” explains Bitcoin Suisse AG CEO Niklas Nikolajsen.

Because of its cryptographically-limited supply and its unique set of properties, in just a few short years Bitcoin has swiftly become a peerless store of value. With the recent growth in market capitalization and liquidity, Bitcoin and the other major crypto-assets offer a way to diversify cash holdings. While the volatility of crypto-assets has historically been very high, the trend the past few years has been very positive, as adaption has grown, with the Falcon Private Bank offering now definitively bridging the gap between crypto and traditional finance.

Banks Offering Cryptocurrency Investment Management a ‘Major Leap for Bitcoin as an Asset Class’

Nikolajsen says that many high net worth individuals and institutions are showing keen interest in bitcoin and digital asset investments. With a few bank’s worldwide beginning to offer bitcoin asset management services to clients, Nikolajsen is confident that other institutions will follow Falcon Bank’s lead.

“A bank offering crypto-assets is a game changer, as it gives institutional clients and high net worth individuals a counterparty in regards to crypto-assets upon which they can rely: A regulated Swiss bank. 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,” Nikolajsen added.

What do you think about Falcon Bank offering bitcoin asset management? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Falcon Group websites, Bitcoin Suisse AG, and Pixabay.

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