Swiss Stock Exchange will open up crypto exposure to banks and their clients through its newly formed partnership with crypto custody joint-venture, Custodigit. According to an announcement on Dec 7, the stock exchange has joined forces with Custodigit parent firms Sygnum and Swisscom to roll out this service through the SIX Digital Asset platform. Sygnum is a FINMA regulated digital asset bank, while Swisscom is a telco giant run by the Swiss government.
The joint initiative, which is yet to receive regulatory approval, will feature a unique Institutional Digital Asset Gateway, where banks can interact with the crypto products. Some of the services included in the proposed investment value-chain are crypto custody, settlement, smart-order routing, trading, and access to secondary markets. The announcement reads,
“This partnership gives banks – and their customers – trusted, safe, secure, compliant, yet seamless access to cryptocurrencies and digital assets.”
SIX said that it plans to roll out the services early next year as more developments are integrated over time to increase the range of tailored crypto products. Swisscom head of FinTech, Johannes Höhener, emphasized the underlying potential in this development,
"Digital assets will fundamentally change the financial industry. By combining Switzerland's leading financial infrastructure providers' strengths, we are enabling banks - in Switzerland and beyond - to quickly enter a new financial services era. A historic opportunity."
Notably, SIX recently completed a successful CBDC Proof-of-Concept (PoC) in collaboration with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB). A milestone that was touted by SIX Digital Exchange Chairman Thomas Zeeb,
“Coupled with our recent CBDC announcement with the SNB and BIS, this is potentially one of the most significant shifts in the digital finance space right now.”