Global digital asset banking group Sygnum has raised a total of USD 58 million in its oversubscribed strategic growth round, giving it a post-money valuation of more than 1 billion. This makes the bank the next “unicorn” of the Crypto Valley.
Final close cornerstone investor Fulgur Ventures is joined by new and existing strategic and financial investors. The banking group has over USD 5 billion in total client assets, with the completed strategic growth round bolstering its robust balance sheet to support future growth. The proceeds will be utilised to drive multi-region market entry, expand product portfolio with focus on Bitcoin technology, enable strategic acquisitions and further strengthen organisational resilience.
Key investment with Bitcoin focus
Fulgur Ventures, the cornerstone investor in the final close of the strategic growth round, is a venture capital firm focusing on Bitcoin technologies, infrastructure and applications that drive Bitcoin adoption. Fulgur is joined by new and existing strategic and financial investors, as well as Sygnum team members again participating on equal terms. The Co-Founders, board and team members continue to hold majority ownership in the digital asset bank.
"Sygnum’s market-tested infrastructure, digital asset-native team and global ecosystem makes them the ideal partner to co-develop innovative Bitcoin-related financial products and technologies – as well as for future collaborations with other Fulgur portfolio companies. We are proud to be the cornerstone investor for the final close of Sygnum’s Strategic Growth Round, which coincides with a potential inflection point for Bitcoin’s institutional adoption and regulatory clarity.” - Oleg Mikhalsky, Partner of Fulgur Ventures
The proceeds from the completed strategic growth round will be put to work to drive an expanded EU/EEA market entry in 2025 and launch its regulated presence in Hong Kong. Sygnum also intends to use the funds to broaden its institutional infrastructure, expand its product portfolio with a focus on Bitcoin-technology, and enable opportunities for strategic acquisitions as the market develops. As the industry’s trend towards regulatory compliance gathers pace, additional investments will be made to further strengthen organisational and operational resilience, compliance teams and state-of-the-art risk management.
Sygnum reaches profitability
A key driver of the oversubscribed Strategic Growth Round was the multi-year core business growth. 2024 revenues for all trading products, including crypto spot, derivatives, FX and traditional securities, surpassed the previous year’s total in Q3 for the second year running. Total annual trades in 2024 increased by more than 1,000% YoY, propelled by PostFinance and the 20+ banks on its B2B platform providing regulated crypto services to more than a third of the Swiss population. Other products rounded out the offering at the institutional level.
In the fiscal year 2024, Sygnum achieved operational profitability and continued to grow its 2,000-strong institutional client base domiciled in over 70 countries, serviced through its regulated operations in Switzerland, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The group is also regulated in the established global financial hubs of Luxembourg and recently Liechtenstein.
“As Switzerland is currently losing ground to other jurisdictions as a preferred digital asset hub, it is also our obligation to highlight the need for Switzerland to not ignore the importance of continuous innovation in the financial sector and to continue to attract talent and capital to remain relevant in the long-term. In that way, Sygnum’s mission is only at the very beginning.” - Mathias Imbach, Sygnum Co-Founder and Group CEO