LGT Bank, the largest global private banking and asset management group owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, announced its partnership with Switzerland’s SEBA Bank to offer cryptocurrency investment services.
LGT Bank Expands Its Services to Digital Assets
Managing over $290 billion in assets, the popular privately owned LGT Bank is moving into the cryptocurrency industry by launching Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) investment in association with the Swiss regulated digital assets service provider, SEBA Bank.
SEBA Bank provides a gateway between digital and traditional assets and it currently supports more than 14 cryptocurrencies including stablecoins.
As an asset service provider, the Swiss bank will initially provide custody and trading services for BTC and ETH to LGT’s Swiss and Liechtenstein clients as the bank is still in discussions to onboard other cryptocurrencies including staking and yield earning possibilities.
“The new offering is currently available to selected client segments of LGT Bank, Liechtenstein. These clients must be domiciled in Liechtenstein or Switzerland and be classified as professional clients or be the client of an external asset manager. However, due to demand in other areas and regions, private banks are already working on expanding their offerings and making them more widely available,” says LGT.
LGT CEO Roland Matt noted that the bank’s expansion into cryptocurrency aligns with the company’s mission and commitment to its customers to meet the increasing demand for investment opportunities.
New Offering Expansion Plans
As a private financial institution, LGT has been managed by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein for over 90 years and has a great deal of experience in managing assets. With over 500 institutional clients in 37 countries, the company plans to extend its new offerings to other regions in the coming months.
As an international private corporation, LGT tends to leverage its partnership with SEBA Bank to provide the newly introduced services to Singapore and other locations.
“LGT is also seeing demand from relationship managers to expand the offering to Singapore and other locations,” said Schütz. “For instance, they have a representative office in the UAE, in Dubai. So they also want to bring those locations into the play.”
Institutional Cryptocurrency Adoption on The Rise
Institutional cryptocurrency adoption has recently become a trend within the global market. More financial investment services are opening their windows for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
In April, U.S.-based financial services company Fidelity Investments disclosed it would allow investors to add Bitcoin (BTC) to its 401(k) retirement accounts, a year after the CEO said wealth managers are still studying the new digital assets. Employees under the scheme will be able to save up to 20% of their investments in bitcoin, later this year.
Similarly, Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs launched its first-ever Bitcoin-backed loan allowing customers to deposit Bitcoin as collateral in exchange for cash.
