Switzerland’s Cryptocurrency Bank SEBA To Raise Upwards of $100M For Expansion

SEBA, the Swiss start-up bank selling cryptocurrency services to clients, is planning to initiate its second-stage fundraising. Less than two years after the first one that raised 100m Swiss francs ($103 M), the bank will seek the same amount to expand its services and develop additional products.

Seba Bank To Raise 100M

Last year, the Swiss Financial Market Authority (FINMA) granted SEBA with a banking license to operate as a financial services provider that focuses mainly on digital assets. By using the license, the bank enabled professional and institutional clients to invest, safely keep, trade, and borrow against traditional and digital assets. Moreover, the clients had the option to issue tokens as well.

SEBA quickly managed to expand its services beyond Switzerland. The bank can now operate in the U.K., Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

News from yesterday indicates that the Swiss crypto bank plans to have second-stage fundraising of 100M Swiss francs. According to the report, SEBA wants to raise money from new investors, including financial institutions, family offices, and individuals.

Speaking on the matter was the bank’s CEO, Guido Buehler, who was previously a managing director at UBS for eleven years:

“If you want to grow, and we have ambitious plans, we need to have additional capital. I always say we are a universal bank for the new economy.”

Buehler has reportedly said before that “in five or ten years, everything is on the blockchain, because the production costs and the maintenance costs are significantly reduced – whilst at the same time you can empower the clients directly.”

At the time of this writing, the bank has not disclosed when the upcoming fundraising will take place.

Not The First 100M

Back in September 2018, SEBA Crypto AG completed its first stage fundraising, and it gathered 100 million Swiss francs. The goal was to create a bank offering cryptocurrency services to companies and institutional investors, while, at the same time, providing traditional banking services to other firms.

In Buehler’s views, SEBA should close the gap between traditional banking and the emerging world of digital assets. Back then, he also said that the bank will use transparency and safety to become a leader in the field:

“With safety, transparency, and performance as core values, our ambition is to become a market leader in the convergence of traditional finance with the crypto economy.”