After Swiss approval, Sygnum sets sights on Singapore banking license

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Crypto firm Sygnum is reported to be pursuing a banking license in Singapore, immediately after securing the same license in Switzerland.

According to quotes attributed to the co-founders Mathias Imbach and Gerald Goh, Sygnum has already begun discussions with regulators for a so-called capital markets services license. In an interview with Bloomberg, Goh said the license is necessary for Sygnum “In order for us to provide a full suite of services, we need to operate as a bank.”

Imbach, who also serves as CEO, said the company is attempting to serve clients who are currently unable to access the crypto services they need through the regulated banking sector.

We have been approached over the past few months by many parties who hold a lot of cryptocurrencies and look for a fully regulated bank. One of their biggest challenges is to find banking specialists to connect them to the real world, to pay their taxes, their employees’ salary.

The news comes a matter of days after the firm successfully secured a banking and securities dealer license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

The company is expected to be seeking the Singapore license to allow it to offer fund management, including its flagship digital asset fund.

Having secured the Swiss license, Sygnum is now on course to become a bank in Switzerland later this year, after which it will be able to issue, store, manage and convert cryptocurrency to fiat.

The firm will also be offering custody and brokerage solutions, as well as assisting in tokenization services for qualified and institutional investors.

With plans to seek similar approval in Singapore now in the public domain, analysts expect Sygnum to have eyes on providing the same level of service to clients in the market. The news means Sygnum is only the latest in a series of cryptocurrency companies to be pursuing banking licenses, with a view to offering more traditional banking services to retail customers.

As crypto payments become ever-more mainstream, firms like Sygnum are aiming to serve in the gaps left by the legacy financial services sectors.