- LGT Bank, the largest family-owned private bank in the world, is offering direct investments in bitcoin and another cryptocurrency for select clients.
- The service will be custodied through a partnership with Swiss SEBA Bank.
- Initially the offering will only include select clients in Liechtenstein and Switzerland with plans to expand.
LGT Bank, the largest family-owned banking group in the world, now offers direct investments in bitcoin and another cryptocurrency through a partnership with Swiss financial institution SEBA Bank, according to a press release.
“We are very pleased that we can now offer our clients convenient access to these markets while upholding the highest security standards,” said Roland Matt, CEO of LGT Bank at Liechtenstein. “We worked intensively on this offering.”
Switzerland-based SEBA Bank will provide the necessary trading and custody services to the implementation of LGT’s offerings. LGT said that the partnership seeks to reduce security risks for its clients that it says are common in the space, including market, liquidity and private key possession risks.
“We have the expertise, established processes and, above all, a custody solution that is ISAE-certified and established by independent bodies,” said Franz Bergmüller, CEO of SEBA Bank, in the release. “As a licensed and FINMA-regulated Swiss bank with a core competence in cryptocurrencies and digital assets, we enable banks and their clients to handle traditional and digital assets securely.”
Bergmüller continued to say, “The range of services combined with the highest security standards makes SEBA Bank’s service offering unique, and we are very pleased to be able to use our expertise to support LGT in expanding its services for digital assets.”
Existing clients of LGT will find the processes for investing in bitcoin similar to the processes associated with traditional assets. LGT will provide the same tax documentation for tax returns and the liquidity will be accessible after a short period of time if a client chooses to sell.
The initial offering is only available to select clients located in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The clients must also be designated as either professional clients or have been previously part of an external asset manager. LGT is in the process of extending this functionality across a broader range of locations.