Bitcoin Suisse expands into Portugal through its Liechtenstein platform

Bitcoin Suisse (Europe) AG announced its expansion into Portugal on 20 October, adding local relationship development for high-net-worth individuals, companies, family offices and institutions. Eligible clients receive trading, custody and staking services cross-border from Liechtenstein, with Rafaella Orelli and Alexander Spann appointed as General Managers Portugal.[1]

The move brings a locally focused commercial team to an existing European service platform. Orelli joins from Bison Bank’s digital-asset business, while Spann previously worked at a Portuguese venture-capital firm. Their task is to develop client relationships; the announced contracting service remains the Liechtenstein company.[1]

What the existing permission supports

The Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority’s firm-specific notice confirms authorization from 22 June 2026. It lists custody and administration, crypto-to-money and crypto-to-crypto exchange, execution, receipt and transmission of orders, and transfers. October’s development is the Portuguese market rollout, rather than the grant of that June licence.[2][1]

Bitcoin Suisse’s European site explicitly excludes crypto-asset advice and portfolio management from its permissions. A dedicated relationship manager can therefore be part of the service without turning the relationship into a discretionary portfolio mandate. The regulatory notice also says EEA passporting is subject to host-state notification; the company announces Portugal as a cross-border market, while its notified-country list is available on request.[3][9][1]

The general terms exclude US persons. That matters for a service aimed partly at internationally mobile wealth: residence in Portugal alone does not establish eligibility where another personal or corporate status is relevant.[6]

Private and corporate accounts have different cost floors

The standard custody percentage falls progressively on higher bands: 0.40% on holdings between CHF5 million and CHF20 million, 0.35% between CHF20 million and CHF100 million, and 0.30% above CHF100 million. CHFAU, USDC and EURC are exempt from the ordinary percentage, but not the Proof Wallet supplement; the minimum can apply even without crypto holdings.[5]

Illustration: at a constant CHF500,000 of chargeable crypto, 0.45% produces CHF2,250 a year before VAT. A private account exceeds its annualized minimum at that size. A corporate account would instead reach CHF5,000 across four quarterly minimum charges, before any Proof Wallet supplement, trading or other services. The example holds values constant and assumes standard tariffs; it is not a customer quote.[4][5]

This is a material segmentation choice. A corporate treasury can have a lower percentage trading tariff and still face a higher custody bill than a private holder with the same assets. The account’s activity and eligible average holdings matter together; quoting one headline percentage would miss that difference.[4][5]

Execution and safekeeping remain distinct services

The European product page advertises one interface and counterparty with access to more than 12 trading venues and nine order types. Its general terms allow Bitcoin Suisse to execute either as principal or in its own name on the client’s account, with notification before agency execution. Under the agency model, assets may be transferred to execution venues to fund an order.[3][6]

The custody policy requires a separate written custody agreement and describes both client-specific blockchain addresses and omnibus client wallets, kept apart from the firm’s own assets. It says the firm does not delegate client custody to a third party. External transfers require proof of control over the relevant wallet address, and holdings-and-movement statements are available at least quarterly or on request.[7]

Read together, those documents distinguish assets being safeguarded from assets committed to execute a trade. Analysis: a client evaluating the Portugal service should follow the order and custody arrangement applicable to its own transaction, rather than assume the phrase one counterparty means assets never interact with an external venue.[6][7]

Staking adds a separate exit timetable

The staking terms allow entry and exit instructions during the firm’s opening hours, subject to each network’s rules. An exit request does not make locked assets immediately available: protocol waiting periods can prevent transfer or termination until completion. Rewards are not guaranteed, and the terms allocate protocol penalties and slashing risk to the client, subject to the provider’s duty of care and applicable law.[8]

A hypothetical 100 units of gross staking rewards would leave 85 units after the published 15% service charge, before custody costs, taxes or other adjustments. That measures the service deduction, not an investment yield: the value and amount of rewards, and the timing at which assets can be moved, remain separate questions.[4][8]

On ending a relationship, the general terms require a whitelisted external wallet for remaining crypto. Without one within 30 calendar days, Bitcoin Suisse can convert the assets into fiat for transfer to the client’s bank account, with applicable charges. That makes transfer preparation relevant from onboarding, especially for a family office or company with formal wallet-approval procedures.[6]

The Portugal expansion adds local distribution to this existing execution, custody and staking framework. Its commercial proposition is the combination of relationship management and specialist infrastructure; the relevant comparison for a prospective client is that complete service against its applicable tariff and operating terms.[1][3]

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