The banking bridge and the market infrastructure

Read the PDF edition (1 page)

The feature that most distinguishes Switzerland from other crypto hubs is that its banks take part. Sygnum and AMINA are full banks that hold, trade and stake digital assets and issue tokenised securities. Zürcher Kantonalbank, PostFinance, several cantonal banks and a growing number of private banks offer trading and custody to their existing customers, usually through infrastructure supplied by Sygnum, Crypto Finance or Taurus. Swissquote and other online banks offer crypto trading. The result is that a crypto business in Switzerland can, with effort, obtain a corporate account at a regulated bank. A private client can hold Bitcoin in the same relationship as a bond portfolio. A tokenised security issued under Art. 973d CO can be settled against central bank money. Part P, Chapter IX describes how to open an account and what the banks ask.

SIX Digital Exchange provides the regulated infrastructure for tokenised securities. Since its licensing in 2021 it has hosted digital bonds of the SIX group itself, the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Zürich, the cities of Lugano, Zürich and St. Gallen and UBS, among others. Since December 2023 settlement on SDX has used wholesale central bank digital currency issued by the SNB under Project Helvetia. On 30 June 2025 the SNB extended the pilot until at least mid-2027 and broadened it to include a link between BX Digital's planned trading facility and the SIC payment system.¹ The combination of a licensed exchange, a licensed central securities depository and central bank money on the ledger was unique in the world as of mid-2026. It is the practical reason why the tokenisation of regulated securities has advanced faster in Switzerland than its small market size would suggest. Part E, Chapter XI treats the tokenisation practice.

Notes

Swiss National Bank, press release of 30 June 2025, extending the Project Helvetia pilot by a further year to at least mid-2027 and adding settlement of tokenised assets in traditional central bank money through an RTGS link between BX Digital and the SIC system. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

English

Contact

Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

All Singapore law advice is provided through KGP Legal LLC, an established and duly licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors.

KGP Legal LLC is a medium-sized law firm in Singapore that is capable of providing the full range of legal services and corporate administration work. Please contact me directly at [email protected] if you need any further information.

Get in touch →

Articles and Insights

Setting up or expanding in Singapore?

SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

If you are planning a company incorporation, an investment, a holding structure or a market entry through Singapore, you can reach Dr Ressos directly at [email protected]. Singapore law advice is provided by KGP Legal LLC, a licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors. As a Singapore law practice, KGP Legal LLC is authorised under the Legal Profession Act 1966 to advise on Singapore law and to represent clients before the Singapore courts; foreign law practices with an office in Singapore are, as a rule, not permitted to do either. Dr Ressos and his team facilitate the full range of Singapore legal, compliance and company administration services, including company incorporation, corporate transactions, commercial contracts, crypto and digital assets, financial regulatory work and dispute resolution, including litigation in the Singapore courts. For legal, tax and fiduciary services in Switzerland, see helveticaregister.com.