A private bank in Liechtenstein has established a cryptocurrency trading platform for institutional investors. Balzers-based Bank Frick will offer the service through its new subsidiary DLT Markets AG.

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According to a statement released by the bank on Feb. 20, DLT Markets will provide its customers with the infrastructural access to buy and sell digital assets from several exchanges. The company has said this “allows investors to trade and manage digital tokens in a regulated environment, as they are used to from the traditional securities business.”

The unit will also administer order data and perform risk and position management processes as part of efforts to book assets and payments securely, it said. At the same time, Bank Frick will provide custodial services to institutional investors trading cryptocurrency, who will have to comply with full know-your-customer and anti-money laundering requirements.

Roger Wurzel, chief executive officer of DLT Markets, who has experience trading equities and derivatives at Deutsche Bank, stated:

We are creating a unique market offering for institutional investors in the area of the new digital token asset class. With our fully regulated platform, we are driving professionalism with regard to the trading of digital tokens and cryptocurrencies.

Liechtenstein has demonstrated great enthusiasm adopting cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology which underpins them. Sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland, the small country has sought to attract cryptocurrency companies through friendly legislation, even though it faces competition from other small European nations like Gibraltar and Malta. Liechtenstein’s central bank has also announced plans to issue a security token.

Bank Frick recently established Distributed Ventures AG, a subsidiary tasked with promoting and financing fintech and blockchain startups. The launch of DLT Markets is thus seen as representing “a further step for Bank Frick in developing a future-oriented financial ecosystem, which combines regulatory security with the benefits of blockchain banking,” according to CEO Edi Wögerer.

He explained: “With our spin-off, we are offering institutional clients a unique combination of a fintech company and a bank regulated by the EU. The trading and safekeeping of digital assets thus go hand in hand – just like they do in traditional securities business.”

Bank Frick is a family-run Liechtenstein bank with headquarters in Balzers, employing more than 120 people. It was founded in 1998 by Kuno Frick Sr, with the majority now controlled by the Kuno Frick Family Foundation. Minority shareholder Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. (Net1) holds 35 percent of Bank Frick’s share capital. Net1 is a financial technology company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.

The bank supports initial coin offerings, provides custody of crypto assets and dealing services in major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

What do you think about Bank Frick’s latest venture? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bank Frick.

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