Switzerland's Fourth-Biggest Bank ZKB Offers Retail Customers Bitcoin and Ether

ZKB's new service also allows other Swiss banks to offer customers the trading and custody of cryptocurrencies, with Thurgauer Kantonalbank being the first partner bank to use the service.

Switzerland’s Fourth-Largest Bank ZKB Now Offers Retail Customers Bitcoin, Ether

The fourth-largest bank in Switzerland, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), has now begun offering retail customers the ability to buy, sell and hold the two most popular cryptocurrencies – bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Thanks to a collaboration with Deutsche Börse-owned digital assets broker Crypto Finance, customers of the cantonal bank will have access to BTC and ETH through ZKB’s existing Mobile App, eBanking, and other established channels, the companies announced in a press release on Wednesday.

Switzerland is ahead of the curve when it comes to digital assets, with many financial institutes offering customers the ability to trade crypto in the country. ZKB is also no stranger to crypto innovation, as the bank was involved in the issuance of the world's first digital bond on Switzerland's SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) last year.

“When it comes to cryptocurrencies, Zürcher Kantonalbank takes on the critical function of securely storing the private keys,” said Alexandra Scriba, head of institutional clients and Multinationals at Zürcher Kantonalbank, in a statement. “Customers and third-party banks therefore do not need their own wallet and hence do not have to worry about保管自己的私钥。苏黎世州立银行负责这两项工作。”

ZKB’s new service also allows other Swiss banks to offer their customers the trading and custody of cryptocurrencies, with Thurgauer Kantonalbank being the first partner bank to use the service.