Swissquote, Switzerland’s largest online bank, plans to launch its own cryptocurrency exchange

• Swissquote, one of Switzerland’s largest online banks, plans to launch a crypto trading platform. 
• Swissquote’s chief sales and marketing officer, Jan De Schepper, plans to open the company’s own crypto exchange by the end of 2022. 
• Swissquote wants to become “the leading Swiss provider of digital assets,” Jan De Schepper said.

Swissquote, one of the largest online banks in Switzerland, is reportedly planning to launch its own crypto trading platform. Jan De Schepper, chief sales and marketing officer at Swissquote, plans to open the company’s own crypto exchange by the end of 2022. Swissquote wants to become “the leading Swiss provider of digital assets,” he said, adding

“We want to enable more trading in various cryptocurrencies on the platform.”

The company also plans to add stablecoins and staking services to its list of cryptocurrency offerings. The Swiss bank currently supports 24 cryptocurrencies: bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, xrp, chainlink, ethereum classic, stellar, tezos, augur, ox, cardano, uniswap, aave, cosmos, algorand, filecoin, maker, compound, year.finance, dogecoin, polkadot, and solana.

Swissquote began expanding its workforce last spring in response to the booming demand for cryptocurrencies, and will continue to do so, De Schepper said. “Our compliance and customer service teams were almost overrun by the crypto rush.” The company’s net income from crypto investments increased by over 1,000% to 63.2 million Swiss francs in the first half of 2021. The hiring spree has paid off in reducing waiting times for clients calling in.

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“Now, we regularly manage to open a trading account on the same day,” De Schepper said. In exceptional cases when special clarification is needed, account opening can take up to a week, he says.

Crypto investments generated a net income of 63.2 million Swiss francs in the first half of 2021, an increase of over 1000 percent. Swissquote expects its pre-tax profit to double by the end of 2021.  However, Swissquote will also face higher expenses due to its heavy investment in infrastructure.