Bitcoin-Friendly Lender to Begin Offering Crypto Services

March 30, 2019

Swiss mortgage bank Hypothekarbank Lenzburg has partnered with crypto asset manager TokenSuisse to provide crypto-banking services.

TokenSuisse will act as an external consultant to assist Hypothekarbank with its upcoming blockchain and crypto financing business units.

“The mortgage bank of Lenzburg has secured cooperation with the successful Swiss startup TokenSuisse AG. Founded by Swiss entrepreneur and investment banker Alain Kunz, the startup will support Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG as an outside consultant in the entire development of the crypto and blockchain business in the future. This will help to further expand the position of Hypothekenbank Lenzburg in this area.”

TokenSuisse says it launched the world’s first multi-crypto-asset certificate. The blockchain startup also runs a coin brokerage and crypto asset advisory, and offers analytics and consulting services.

Hypothekarbank was founded in 1868, and has around 260 employees from 11 countries. The 150-year-old lender offers a range of banking services to its private, corporate and investment clients, including savings and pension accounts, real estate and mortgage, tax and estate planning, asset management, stock market and currency trading.

Last July, Hypothekarbank became the first bank in Switzerland to open business accounts for blockchain and crypto-related companies, making it Switzerland’s “most digital bank.”

With its latest crypto initiatives, the bank may expose pensions to long-term investments in digital assets.

Crypto proponents speculate that pensions worldwide will eventually diversify into alternative assets, allocating a portion to cryptocurrencies.

Writes Peter Tchir, head of macro strategy at Academy Securities,

“I know that there are many funds that have been looking at the crypto space but have been reluctant to be a ‘first mover’. These funds are not designed for investment flexibility and many will have been reluctant to start the daunting process because they believed the likelihood of success was low. Now that some funds have done it, others are likely to follow (or are already following that path, just not publicly). 

I know that Morgan Creek was a pioneer in getting pension funds to invest in hedge funds, and it seems as though they are trying to repeat that process with this new asset class and are starting to meet with success – as are other fund managers and advisors.”

Crypto bull and founder of Morgan Creek Digital, Anthony Pompliano, says his firm has raised $40 million from two public pensions, a university endowment, an insurance company, a hospital system and a private foundation. To skirt a looming pension crisis, he believes funds will have to do something different.

“Every pension fund should buy Bitcoin.

The retirement of hundreds of millions of corporate and government employees around the world depends on these pension funds’ ability to pay the individual a set amount of money post-retirement. Unfortunately, many pension funds are facing a significant crisis? – ?it does not look like they will be able to pay their future obligations.” 

Despite the global crypto bear market, Switzerland’s tech hub for blockchain engineers, dubbed “Crypto Valley”, continues to thrive with innovative strategies by blending traditional financing with digital assets. Last month, 129-year-old Julius Baer, Switzerland’s third-largest bank, launched digital asset services in collaboration with crypto banking startup SEBA Crypto AG.

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