BancaStato, the cantonal bank of the Ticino region in southern Switzerland, has switched on regulated crypto trading for its retail clients, letting them buy, hold and sell bitcoin directly through the web and mobile apps they already use for everyday banking. Digital asset bank Sygnum announced the launch on Thursday, describing it as the first time a bank running Avaloq's SaaS core banking environment has enabled crypto trading via API in this way.
The setup is straightforward in concept but took meaningful engineering: BancaStato plugged Sygnum's B2B API into its Avaloq core banking system and digital channels, so bitcoin orders sit inside the same interface as a client's current account. At launch, clients can place market orders either by quantity or by a U.S. dollar value, covering bitcoin and a handful of other crypto assets. No separate exchange account, no extra login.
Custody off the balance sheet
Where the structure gets interesting for bitcoin holders is custody. Client holdings rest with Sygnum, not on BancaStato's own balance sheet. Sygnum describes the arrangement as an institutional-grade, multi-layer solution built on hardware and software controls, governance processes and independent external audits. The practical consequence: if BancaStato were ever to enter insolvency proceedings, bitcoin held under this structure would not be pooled with the bank's other assets and exposed to creditor claims. For a bearer asset, that separation matters more than it does for a conventional deposit.
BancaStato was founded in 1915 and has run its core systems on the Avaloq platform in a SaaS model for years. Curzio De Gottardi, the bank's head of products and services, framed the crypto launch as a natural extension of the existing lineup rather than a pivot. Fritz Jost, Sygnum's chief B2B officer, pointed to the Avaloq SaaS angle specifically, calling it a meaningful signal of how far regulated digital asset infrastructure has matured and scaled.
The bank joins Zuger Kantonalbank and more than 25 other banks and financial institutions already on Sygnum's B2B platform. Sygnum says its network of partner banks now gives more than a third of the Swiss population a regulated path to own digital assets, a figure that keeps climbing as cantonal and regional banks follow each other into crypto services one by one.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or an investment recommendation.
