Swiss SIX Explores Launching Crypto Exchange

“Cryptocurrency is becoming an increasingly recognized asset class,” said Björn Sibbern, global head of exchanges at SIX Group, adding that the company is exploring the possibility of creating “a platform where we can facilitate trading, whether it’s spot crypto or derivatives.”

Traditional financial firms have largely avoided setting up crypto exchanges due to a lack of clear regulation and concerns about reputational risks. However, some major companies like Deutsche Boerse, Nomura, and Standard Chartered have already launched their own crypto exchanges, usually separate from their main businesses. Cboe Global Markets closed its spot crypto exchange this year, citing a lack of clear regulation. CME Group considered launching bitcoin trading in May, but the exchange currently has no such plans, according to its CEO.

The approval of exchange-traded funds trading spot bitcoin and ether by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this year has sparked a wave of investment from retail and institutional investors in these assets, raising hopes that more investors will be interested in trading these coins directly.

While the price of bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, has fallen to around $60,000 from a record high of around $72,000 earlier this year, it has still risen 40% this year. Switzerland has become one of the most crypto-friendly countries in Europe, thanks to laws on trading and custody of assets, as well as classification of different types of tokens, which many other countries have not yet implemented.

“We are looking at other ways to expand in Europe and, within that, we are also looking at the possibility of including cryptocurrencies in this,” Sibbern added, clarifying that the platform will only be available to institutional investors such as asset managers. “We are seeing a trend of more global banks and institutions looking at cryptocurrency,” he added.

SIX operates crypto derivatives firm AsiaNext in Singapore in partnership with Japan’s SBI Group. “We are looking at the possibility of doing something similar in Europe,” Sibbern said, adding that the company “could also say it doesn’t want to pursue this.” The Swiss group, owned by 120 banks, operates a separate digital exchange that has listed nine digital bonds since 2018 from issuers including investment bank UBS and the local government of the city of Lugano. Sibbern said the digital exchange “could… extend the concept” to include cryptocurrency trading. Cryptocurrency trading would also be a significant expansion for SIX, whose exchanges in Switzerland and Madrid have hosted two of Europe’s biggest IPOs this year — Spanish cosmetics group Puig and dermatology group Galderma.