The cryptocurrency broker told investors it expects a double-digit profit for the year, but signaled that it still has some ways to go in winning a Swiss banking license.

Zug-based Bitcoin Suisse expects full-year net profit «perhaps in the double digits of millions» of Swiss francs, it told investors in a quarterly update seen by finews.com. The seven-year-old start-up, which posted a 2.4 million Swiss franc ($2.6 million) profit last year, said it can achieve the profitability while investing heavily in growth – its chief priority.

The meatier issue for Bitcoin Suisse is an effort to win a Swiss banking license from regulator Finma: «Licensing efforts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are progressing and a constructive dialogue with respective regulators is ongoing,» the company wrote in the update. It made no mention of earlier statements to investors, that the license was likely arrive at the back end of this year.

2020 Hopes Dashed

Bitcoin Suisse desperately wants to be the third approved crypto bank in Switzerland, as finews.com reported in September. Its hopes of being vetted by November, its original target, are likely to be dashed, due to deeper regulatory scrutiny due in part to so-called legacy accounts from the early days of its existence, according to several people familiar with the situation.

The crypto broker has previously said is unaware that legacy clients or assets are a roadblock in the regulatory process. The only other reference it made to the process in the nine-month update is that it has chosen Lucerne's cantonal bank, or LUKB, as its house lender. Bitcoin Suisse said LUKB helped lift its default bank guarantee to 55 million Swiss francs ($60 million).

Going Public

The banking license is one of many big projects the company, led by Chairman Niklas Nikolajsen and CEO Arthur Vayloyan, has on deck. Bitcoin Suisse wants to carry out a security token offering, or STO, next year, and eventually wants to go public.

Bitcoin Suisse stands out from Seba and Sygnum, which were first to win licenses, as hugely profitable, stocked with ex-big bankers (including Nikolajsen and Vayloyan), and  has thousands of clients and processes in place. It also recently won 45 million francs, including from Swiss banker Roger Studer, in a funding round.