A subsidiary of Russia’s third-largest bank, Zurich-based Gazprombank, has received the approval of Switzerland’s financial regulator to offer Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin services to its clients. The bank now offers services including trading, buying, selling, and custodian services for Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin Services

Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd publically announced Thursday that the bank received authority from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to facilitate Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin services. According to the bank’s website, the bank is fully owned by Russian Gazprombank. The Russian Gazprombank is the third largest bank in Russia. It is also the third-largest in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of equity.

Gazprombank Crypto Services (Source: Gazprombank)

With this new approval, the Gazprombank, as a fully licensed Swiss financial institution, can provide “custody of cryptocurrencies and trading between crypto and fiat currencies.” However, the bank mentioned that they provide their services to a selected clientele at first.

“The new services will include institutional-grade storage solutions and the purchase and sale of bitcoin. Gazprombank plans to gradually expand the offering to include additional cryptocurrencies and other products and services.”

Furthermore, the clients will receive access to cryptocurrency liquidity from the bank. However, safekeeping of the cryptocurrencies will be handle by a Swiss regulated bank. The bank added below detailing the benefits of the new crypto portfolio:

“We expect digital assets to become increasingly important in the global economy and, in particular, for our current and potential clientele.”