Avaloq is rolling out cryptocurrency software with a Swiss private bank, finews.com has learned. The move is one of the first signs of the banking industry suiting up to trade in digital assets.
The Zurich-based banking software provider is working together with Gazprombank in Switzerland to integrate an crypto asset solution for clients by the middle of next year, Avaloq confirmed to finews.com.
The Swiss company is working with Lausanne-based fintech Metaco, in which Avaloq has taken a 10 percent stake, to integrate cryptocurrencies into banking. Swiss banks have been cool on cryptocurrencies until now, and the move is one of the first signs that traditional finance is building a bridge to digital assets.
Laundering Sanction
Gazprombank is already a client of Avaloq, and wants to bake cryptocurrency services into its client offering by mid-next year. Metaco provides cryptographic solutions to secure crypto assets for institutional clients. The fintech firm's technology is being adopted by Avaloq, which caters heavily to private banks.
Russian-owned Gazprombank was sanctioned in February by Switzerland's financial regulator for a ten-year pattern of money-laundering exposed by the «Panama Papers». The bank accepted the sanction for its behavior, much of which stems from before 2009, when the Swiss bank bought Russian Commercial Bank.
Crypto Bank Project
Today, Gazprombank is primarily a trade financier and commercial lender with few relationships to wealthy clientele. Its balance sheet is roughly 3 billion Swiss francs ($3 billion) and the bank recorded profit of 24.7 million francs last year. It is questionable whether the roll-out at Gazprombank will entice more Swiss banks into crypto business.
Another Russian bank in Switzerland, Sberbank, is focusing on cryptocurrencies, including mining. While Falcon Private Bank is attempting to reinvent itself as a crypto asset manager, other banks have been cooler. A crypto bank project dubbed Seba, launched by several former UBS bankers, is aiming for a banking license next year, as finews.com reported in September.
