Sygnum Bank: crypto dealing, qualified-client access and Swiss custody

The spot service aggregates liquidity and supports self-directed e-banking, voice execution for block trades and API access for automated strategies. Its published order set includes market, limit, stop and time-weighted average price orders. These are bank dealing channels; access does not mean the customer operates a personal blockchain wallet or joins a public exchange order book.[1]

An options quotation should specify the underlying asset, settlement method, expiry, premium and collateral obligation. The public options description allows tailored structures; it does not establish one universal contract size or a single margin requirement. A purchased option and a written option also create different obligations, so the direction and structure belong in the trade confirmation.[16]

The private tariff is effective 1 July 2026. Minimum charges matter; VAT and external costs are additional.[4]

CHF, EUR, USD and SGD accounts sit alongside digital-asset accounts. The bank lists SIC, euroSIC, SEPA and SWIFT payment standards. Additional currencies require confirmation. A transfer should use the actual account’s payment instructions; a supported currency and a payment network are separate parts of the funding route.[6]

The documented external-wallet route is to wallets the client owns. First-use verification takes place through the Client Portal. The account guide distinguishes trading wallets, used for dealing, from vault wallets used principally to hold assets with additional controls. Plan a new destination before an urgent withdrawal; the published workflow includes bank review.[6]

Sygnum describes client crypto as held off its balance sheet in a ring-fenced structure. Its current custody page says it does not rely on external third-party custodians, and describes multiparty computation, controlled key storage, Swiss data centres and independent assurance under ISAE 3000 and ISAE 3402. These are the provider’s published control descriptions, rather than findings from an independent technical test for this profile.[8]

Cold storage adds another operational layer. Sygnum describes its Cryo setup as fully air-gapped, with keys physically isolated from networked systems. Custody choice therefore involves both security controls and the speed at which an asset can be released into an active trading or payment workflow.[8]

The CHF500,000 qualification measure and CHF50,000 opening-relationship measure answer different questions. Meeting the lower figure alone does not satisfy the published private-client qualification route. Documents and acceptance are assessed for the applicant and account type.[7]

Technical support operates Monday–Friday, 08:00–17:00 CET, excluding Zurich public holidays, although system monitoring runs continuously. The support page warns that an out-of-hours failure can take longer to resolve. Clients are directed to their relationship manager or the contact form; no guaranteed emergency closure channel or resolution time was established.[10]

Authentication recovery is a separate workflow from an ordinary password change. Airlock 2FA can be restored through the app’s account-restoration process where a usable backup exists; otherwise the client must contact the bank. A password reset requires the contract identifier and authentication approval. No fixed post-recovery withdrawal freeze was stated in the reviewed support guidance.[10]

Complaints can be raised with the client-service contact or the bank’s Legal and Compliance team. If a resolution is not reached, the legal notice identifies the Swiss Banking Ombudsman as an impartial mediation route. Keep the instruction, confirmation and timing records when an issue concerns execution or a delayed transfer.[13]

FINMA’s authorised-institutions list dated 21 October 2026 identifies Sygnum Bank AG, Zurich, as a bank. This verifies the Swiss operator’s status; it does not turn every group product into an approved offering in every country.[12]

Sygnum’s timeline records Swiss incorporation in May 2018, a banking licence in August 2019 and first client BTC and ETH trades the following month. At year-end 2025, the group reported about USD6 billion in client assets and 2,300 clients across more than 80 countries. Those are group relationship and asset figures, not daily exchange turnover or a count of active spot traders.[14]

Operator

Sygnum Bank AG

Exchange model

Centralised

Service scope

Swiss bank crypto dealing, custody and related institutional services; this profile centres on direct Sygnum Bank AG clients.

Client types

Professional clients; Institutional clients

Pricing publication

Public and quoted pricing

Headquarters

Zurich, Switzerland

Covered jurisdictions

Switzerland

Pricing scope

Published private and corporate tariffs, with tailored products quoted separately.

Funding scope

Bank transfers and supported crypto deposits; withdrawals to client-owned wallets require screening.

Custody and asset handling

Bank-controlled, segregated digital-asset custody; limited crypto insurance is distinct from eligible fiat deposit protection.

Client eligibility

Qualified private and institutional clients; ordinary retail, US and sanctioned-country clients are excluded by the Swiss onboarding FAQ.

Support

Relationship manager, web contact and Swiss business-hours technical support.

Authorisation and registration scope

FINMA lists Sygnum Bank AG as a Swiss bank. Overseas group permissions do not establish identical access to the Swiss service.

Exchange metadata checked 21 Oct 2026Source 1Source 7Source 6Source 9Source 4Source 5Source 10Source 12

The current staking page lists networks including Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Sui, Cosmos, Internet Computer and Tezos. Staking and reward monitoring are integrated into the bank platform, while validator infrastructure is managed by the provider. Yield varies with the asset, network conditions, utilisation and lock-up periods. Check the selected network’s exit mechanics before treating a staked balance as available trading capital.[15]

Connect is a separate institutional settlement service. It updates participating members’ balances internally, without an on-chain transaction for each settlement, and supports fiat, stablecoins and crypto. Access is available through the banking platform, APIs or Fireblocks. The provider reports more than 200 institutional trading clients on the network; that network figure should not be confused with the group’s total client count.[17]

Protect requires Swiss onboarding, a contractual framework and a dedicated portfolio. The client places and pledges collateral, receives mirrored capacity at a supported exchange and trades there. Collateral can include fiat, securities or crypto. This changes where collateral is held and how it is managed; it does not remove the need to assess the external venue, the pledge agreement and settlement obligations.[18]

Sygnum’s May 2026 AI announcement describes a controlled pilot, explicitly unavailable to clients at publication. An agent prepared on-chain actions, but each transaction required the individual’s signature in a self-custody wallet; no client accounts, funds or infrastructure were used. The pilot is not evidence that a production Sygnum trading account includes an autonomous AI dealing entitlement.[19]

For Swiss-domiciled corporate clients, tax statements are free, audit confirmations cost CHF200 and ad hoc requests CHF250 per hour. The reviewed documents did not establish a universal CSV export or country-complete tax service.[5]