Santander Bank offered cryptocurrency trading to clients in Switzerland

The Swiss-based private division of the Spanish bank Santander has opened the opportunity for 210,000 wealthy clients to trade and store bitcoin and Ethereum. CoinDesk writes about this with reference to internal documents.

Over the next few months, the structure will expand the list of available tools that will meet certain criteria.

The service is available on request. 

The Bank stores clients' private keys in a secure environment within a regulated custodial model.

"The ownership of cryptocurrencies as an alternative asset class continues to expand. We expect our customers to transfer responsibility for their storage to the institution," commented John Whelan, head of Santander's digital assets department.

Recall that in March 2023, against the backdrop of the US banking crisis, Santander was among those who did not refuse to work with crypto companies.

In 2022, the Brazilian branch of the institution offered a digital asset trading service for local clients.

In March of the same year, Santander launched in Argentina a loan program for local farmers based on tokenized agricultural commodities.