EU Banks Expand Corporate Banking Services to Crypto Firms
In the past, blockchain and cryptocurrency firms in the European Union has been on the reject list of traditional European financial institutions. However, those dynamics are set to change now.
German based solarisBank has been issued with the necessary licenses that will allow it to open corporate banking accounts for blockchain and cryptocurrency firms dealing in the European Economic Zone. The bank will now allow crypto companies to open their ‘Blockchain Company Accounts’ using fiat currencies.
The new services come after the launching of the solarisBank’s Blockchain Factory which is intended to provide a regulatory and technological connection between the blockchain technology industry and the banking world.
Another solarisBank product called Automated Trust Account, an automated cryptocurrency marketplace escrow account was also launched recently by the bank. Both account types are intended to help ease the trading of fiat currencies on international cryptocurrency exchanges.
solarisBank is now partnering with vPE Bank to allow the trading of cryptocurrencies at institutional level. According to reliable sources, there are other services in the works such as plans to provide digital banking services like debit cards to blockchain firms.
According to the chief technological officer of solarisBank, Peter Grosskopf, this move will improve security and convenience, particularly when connected with wallets and marketplaces.
“The next logical step is to connect our digital banking and debit cards solution with exchanges and wallets, so partners can create their own crypto retail banking experience. These accounts significantly reduce the risk to their end-customers and make the trading and possession of cryptocurrencies not only more convenient but also more secure,” wrote Grosskopf in a blog post.
According to the bank’s chief executive Roland Folz, there is high demand for a licensed partner who will offer the regulatory and technological connection between traditional banking and the new field of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Although solarisBank is not the first financial institution on the European continent to provide corporate accounts to blockchain and cryptocurrency firms, the Berlin based bank that prides itself as a ‘tech firm with a banking license’ is however leading groundbreaking initiatives on that front. Liechtenstein’s Bank Frick has also being offering similar services for companies in the crypto sector for some time now.
Just last month, it was announced that Switzerland’s Hypothekarbank Lenzburg was also launching a corporate platform for firms in the crypto industry- a first in the country.
Notwithstanding Switzerland’s more liberal acceptance to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, startups there still find a more uphill battle in opening business accounts with traditional financial institutions. This has led some of the blockchain and crypto companies there to shift their financial dealings to banks in Liechtenstein.
