Sygnum digital asset bank in Zurich

Swiss angle

Sygnum Bank AG appears as a bank, seated in Zürich, on the FINMA list of authorised banks and securities firms, read on 5 October 2026, so this is a FINMA-licensed bank and not an anti-money-laundering intermediary. The Sygnum home page, read on 5 October 2026, gives the address as Uetlibergstrasse 134A, 8045 Zurich, and says the company was "incorporated in May 2018". The same page names a second hub in Singapore, a Middle East bank in Abu Dhabi and Sygnum Europe in Liechtenstein. This page covers only the Swiss bank.

Sygnum writes for a narrow audience. Its home page says it is "built for professional and institutional investors", and parts of the site open only after you confirm you are a qualified investor. That gate quotes the Collective Investment Schemes Act and names, for private persons, liquid assets of at least CHF 500,000.

Custody is the core product. The custody page, read on 5 October 2026, covers more than 70 digital assets, holds them "off-balance sheet within a ring-fenced structure", and says the bank does not use third-party custodians. You can withdraw to external wallets you own. The bank's screening tool checks the first transfer to each new wallet before it leaves. The same page says Sygnum charges custody in basis points a year, set by the volume you hold, and puts the rates in a separate private price list.

Trading runs around the clock. The spot trading page, read on 5 October 2026, lists more than 30 digital assets against USD, CHF, EUR and SGD, with orders open 24/7 and settlement Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00 CET.

For tax, coins at Sygnum are a bank-held position. You still declare their year-end value in the wealth tax section of your return; the Swiss Bitcoin tax guide explains the ESTV year-end rate.

Who it is for

Qualified and professional investors in Switzerland who want bitcoin held at the same bank as their shares and bonds, with a relationship manager to call.

Families planning an estate. The Zurich inheritance tax guide notes that a regulated custodian such as Sygnum supplies written account information for the inheritance inventory, so the executor works from a bank document instead of a wallet printout.

Who it is not for

Retail savers. The bank describes its clients as professional and institutional investors, and its qualified-investor gate names CHF 500,000 in liquid assets. Someone who wants to buy CHF 100 of bitcoin a month is better served by Relai, Pocket Bitcoin or Yuh. The dollar-cost averaging chapter explains that kind of plan.

Anyone who wants published prices before signing up. The custody and trading pages give no rates; the custody page points to a separate price list.

Anyone who wants their own keys. The self-custody guide covers that route.