By George Ward
The global banking crisis cannot deter other banks from venturing into the crypto industry. A Swiss-based financial institution is the latest to announce its digital asset services.
PostFinance, a state-owned financial institution, revealed that it plans to offer customers crypto trading and custody services.
A Strategic Partnership
According to the bank’s latest statement, the Swiss government-controlled retail banking platform has reportedly collaborated with the local crypto bank, Sygnum, to offer clients numerous digital asset banking services. As part of the partnership, PostFinance customers could purchase, store, and trade multiple crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Furthermore, the crypto services are integrated through Sygnum’s institutional business-to-business (B2B) platform, allowing banks to interact with entry-stage regulated virtual currencies. The B2B model includes over 12 banks supporting crypto assets with revenue-yielding services like staking.
According to Philipp Merkt, the bank’s chief investment officer, PostFinance’s entry into the crypto space was a response to the increasing demands by its customers for digital asset financial products.
Merkt added that with cryptocurrency playing a critical role in the mainstream financial ecosystem, the bank needs to provide its customers access to the emerging market. Thus, it can cement its position as its customers’ trusted fund custodian.
PostFinance was launched in 1906 as the financial arm of Swiss Post, the country’s national postal service. The state-backed firm has evolved over the years. It became known for supporting cryptocurrency after it developed its digital asset platform in 2021 by issuing virtual collectibles tied to physical stamps.
Meanwhile, the announcement of the bank’s crypto trading services comes after the firm revealed the launch of Crypto Stamp 3.0. The new crypto stamp features physical and non-fungible token (NFT) versions integrated with artificial intelligence (AI).
However, the crypto stamp is scheduled to be released to the public by Swiss Post on May 2.
Bitcoin Miner Records 2,195 Mined BTC in Q1 2023
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin market continues to grow, with Marathon Digital setting a new quarterly production record mining 2,195 Bitcoin worth $62 million in this year’s first quarter. Accordingly, the crypto mining firm is on course to attain its mid-year target of 23 exahashes.
According to its update, Marathon Digital notes that the mined 2,195 BTC represents a 74% jump from the first quarter of last year and a 41% rise from the Q4 of the same year. This comes after the Bitcoin miner increased its operational hashrate by 195% compared to Q1 2022.
In addition, the miner also reported that it mined 825 BTC in March, valued at $23.3 million, which signals a 21% production increase from February 2023. Fred Thiel, the CEO of Marathon, stated that the notable progress shows that the firm is on track to accomplish its main target for the year.
Thiel noted that the firm seeks to optimize its overall performance and boost its previously bought mining rigs to reach 23 exashashes by the end of Q2 2023. Since January 1, Marathon has steadily increased its operational hash rate from 7.0 exahashes to 11.5 exahashes at the end of March 2023.
Meanwhile, the firm’s management attributed the new efficiency to adding 25,900 Bitcoin miners from various facilities in North Dakota, which saw its mining fleet rise to 105,200 rigs at the start of last month. Marathon also improved its operations by cleaning up part of its balance sheet after settling $50 billion debt and repaying its loan to the now-collapse Silvergate Bank.