Zurich-based private bank Maerki Baumann has announced it will be offering cryptocurrency deposits and managing these assets for clients. It is the second private bank in the country to do so. However, they’re not too keen on the prospect – in an article on the bank’s website Milko G. Hensel, Deputy Head of IT and Digitisation, does not extol the values of major crypto investment.
According to the article, the bank is willing to accept crypto-generated funds, but has no current plans to invest them as it does not have sufficient data on prices, volatility, and trading volumes to call upon.
According to Baumann’s financial report for last year, the institution manages 646.3 million CHF ($649,037,080) in client assets. Interestingly, it is directing its clients to cryptocurrency consultancy firm Bitcoin Suisse. The firm is among the business partners of Falcon Private Bank, the first Swiss private bank to accept crypto-based assets. Falcon hired the CIO of Maerki Baumann as chief strategist that same month.
Although Baumann may not be excited about the new service, it is a fact that private banks cater to high net worth clients, and there is demand for crypto asset management. This is in line with the trend of big money individuals and institutions making cryptocurrency part of their investment portfolios. Perhaps no country is a better example of this than Switzerland.
The main stock exchange of the country announced it was building a cryptocurrency trading desk this summer, which will open next year – the Swiss Digital Exchange. The SDE will be supervised by the national financial regulator.
