The case
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On Monday, two Swiss crypto service providers, Sygnum and Seba Crypto, were given the banking license by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), so they can now act as banks and security dealers. If one compares the response to this item of news to other events in the financial market place one might conclude that this was an event of only mild importance. However, this is not the case. Sygnum and Seba Crypto are the first ones in the whole world to be given the license as a “crypto bank”. Both crypto entities offer comprehensive digital banking, with banking activities ranging from safes to trading to accepting capital.
Source: FINMA and NZZ 27.08.2019 (highly abbreviated)
The commentary
The «new banks» are startups. In contrast to existing competitors in the crypto business, they have a business model checked by an internationally renowned financial market authority. Among other things, this guarantees that there is sufficient funding for the next few years. This is why Seba Crypto and Sygnum stand a good chance to grow into important and established participants of the Swiss financial marketplace.