BancaStato, the cantonal bank of Ticino in Switzerland, has started offering regulated crypto trading to its clients. Starting this week, users can buy, hold, and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly from the bank's existing web and mobile apps — no separate platform needed. The move puts a traditional Swiss bank founded in 1915 squarely into digital assets, using Sygnum's B2B API hooked into its Avaloq core banking system.
How the integration works
Sygnum's API plugs into BancaStato's Avaloq SaaS environment, letting clients place market orders by quantity or U.S. dollar value. There's no separate order management system — the trading lives inside the same apps customers already use for their regular accounts. Client holdings sit in Sygnum's custody, not on the bank's balance sheet, using an institutional-grade multi-layer setup with hardware and software controls, governance, and independent audits. That off-balance-sheet structure means the assets are protected if the bank ever goes bankrupt.
Not the first Swiss bank, but a first on Avaloq
BancaStato joins Zuger Kantonalbank and more than 25 other banks and financial institutions on Sygnum's B2B platform. Together, those partner banks give more than a third of the Swiss population a route to own digital assets. Other Swiss banks — Zürcher Kantonalbank, St. Galler Kantonalbank, UBS — have also launched or considered bitcoin trading. But BancaStato is the first bank on Avaloq's SaaS environment to enable clients to buy, hold, and sell crypto via API with Sygnum.
Sygnum's expanding reach
Sygnum holds a Swiss banking license and, since June 30, 2026, a Crypto-Asset Service Provider license under the EU's MiCA regulation, granted by Liechtenstein's FMA. That MiCA license lets EU banks tap Sygnum's infrastructure to launch their own digital asset services. Sygnum has also built out bitcoin-linked lending, including a partnership with Relai on BTC-backed loans and a $50 million bitcoin-backed syndicated loan for Ledn.
With the MiCA license in hand, Sygnum is positioned to pitch its B2B API to banks across the European Union. BancaStato's launch shows the model works on a modern SaaS core — a template other regional banks could follow. No word yet on which EU bank might be next, but the infrastructure is live.
