Switzerland is one of the countries so advanced in the adoption of crypto-currencies that some of its citizens even want to include Bitcoin alongside gold in the Swiss Federal Constitution. Without going that far, a Swiss bank will still offer, for the first time from a banking institution, cryptocurrency accounts paying interest rates.
SEBA Bank offers returns on deposits in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethers (ETH)
Whether via decentralized finance (DeFi), or through centralized loans from specialized crypto-companies like Nexo, Celsius or even Swissborg, crypto-currency investors have become accustomed to receiving (often generous) interest on their digital assets.
It is certainly with this in mind that SEBA Bank has decided to also offer returns on the crypto-assets it holds on behalf of its wealthy institutional clients.
In a press release issued this October 13, the banking platform – fully licensed by FINMA (the Swiss financial regulator) – thus revealed its new “SEBA Earn” offering, an institutional grade solution allowing its clients to earn interest rates on their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) deposits :
“SEBA Earn will provide support for centralized lending and borrowing services, allowing investors to generate returns by lending Bitcoin and Ethereum directly with SEBA Bank.”
Swiss bank also offers ADA, DOT and XTZ staking
Not only will SEBA Bank offer its return service on the two leading crypto assets, but it will also offer to pay out staking rewards from blockchain networks to its clients with a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus.
SEBA Earn will thus allow the bank’s retail and institutional investors to receive staking rewards for Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT) and Tezos (XTZ). Additional consensus PoS networks are also planned “in the coming months.”
“It is clear that with the acceleration of institutional interest in digital assets, investors have a broader appetite for crypto-assets, with particular interest in remunerative services such as staking, DeFi and centralized crypto asset borrowing/lending. (…) “
Guido Buehler, CEO of SEBA Bank
With the total value of locked-in assets (TVL) in DeFi reaching the equivalent of $80 billion, it is understandable that institutional investors in banks are also attracted. It is up to the banks to fill this demand, and SEBA Bank seems to have understood this perfectly.
It must be said that in terms of innovation and building bridges between crypto and traditional finance, Swiss banks are at the forefront. This is especially true of BVAA, which offers a digital investment account that is a Bitcoin wallet, which allows customers to freely hold and trade their BTC.
