Crypto bank Sygnum raises $54 million for expansion plan
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The funds will be used to accelerate the development of Sygnum’s fully regulated products.
PHOTO: BT FILE
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SINGAPORE - Digital asset banking group Sygnum has raised over US$40 million (S$54 million) to fund its expansion into new markets.
The group, which was incorporated in Switzerland and Singapore in 2018, said in a Jan 25 statement that the latest fund-raising round was led by global asset management group Azimut Holding, and surpassed the initial target of US$35 million.
It brings the group’s post-money valuation to US$900 million.
The proceeds raised will be used to expand Sygnum’s geographic reach into one market in the European Union and another in the Asia-Pacific in 2024.
The funds will also be used to accelerate the development of the cryptocurrency bank’s fully regulated products, such as its bank-to-bank platform that currently powers the crypto offerings of more than 15 banks and financial institutions globally.
Mr Gerald Goh, Sygnum’s co-founder and Singapore chief executive, said: “As clients’ needs and activities with Sygnum continue to grow and become more sophisticated, the fresh funds will help us stay on course to continuously upgrade and enhance our product and service offerings.”
Similar to previous fund-raising rounds, some Sygnum employees participated as personal investors on the same terms as other investors. These employees, together with the co-founders, board members and the management team, remain the group’s majority shareholders.
Mr Goh said the fresh funding comes as the broader industry is emerging from a recent “crypto winter”, referring to a prolonged and pronounced bear market in the cryptocurrency space. He added that investors and market participants are increasingly seeking to partner with trusted and well-managed financial institutions.
At the end of 2023, Sygnum said it clocked an annualised revenue run rate (ARRR) of over US$100 million and achieved positive cash flow in the last quarter. The ARRR is a financial metric that projects a company’s current revenue over a full year.
Currently, the group has more than US$4 billion in assets under management, with over 1,700 clients from more than 60 countries.
The group now has close to 250 employees in its four offices in Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Giorgio Medda, chief executive of Azimut Holding, said Sygnum has been a key partner since 2021. The two firms developed together the first tokenisation of a private credit portfolio in Europe.
He added that demand for well-regulated, institutionalised services in crypto looks set to surge in 2024.
Some market players are hoping the bearish crypto market will bounce back in 2024 as more institutional investors enter the scene and regulations in key markets emerge.
In November 2023, Sygnum Singapore inked a deal with the Singapore arm of 174-year-old private bank Bordier & Cie, expanding an existing partnership that began in 2021 in Geneva.
Mr Gerald Goh, Sygnum’s co-founder and Singapore chief executive, said the fresh funding comes as the broader industry is emerging from a recent “crypto winter”.
PHOTO: SYGNUM
A month before that, Sygnum Singapore received from the Monetary Authority of Singapore a full major payment institution licence that the company applied for in April 2021. It was earlier granted a capital markets services licence in 2019, allowing it to offer crypto financial services.
In April 2023, Sygnum announced a partnership with PostFinance, one of Switzerland’s largest retail banks, to bring a range of bank-grade digital asset services to millions of Swiss customers.
