Digital asset banking group Sygnum turns unicorn after raising $80m

SINGAPORE – Digital asset banking group Sygnum, which is based in Singapore and Switzerland, has raised US$58 million (S$80 million) to bring its valuation to more than US$1 billion, a unicorn company in start-up parlance.

Its oversubscribed strategic growth round was led by a Bitcoin-focused venture capital firm, Fulgur Ventures.

Fulgur was joined by new and existing investors, with Sygnum team members participating on equal terms.

Sygnum’s four co-founders, including Mr Mathias Imbach and Mr Gerald Goh, the board, and some employees continue to hold Sygnum majority ownership.

The funds raised will be used to further the group’s market entry into Europe in 2025, as well as launch its business in Hong Kong.

The group said it 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.

Mr Oleg Mikhalsky, a Fulgur partner, said the venture capital firm continues to drive investment in the accelerating convergence of Bitcoin and institutional financial markets.

He said the investment in Sygnum “coincides with a potential inflection point for Bitcoin’s institutional adoption and regulatory clarity”.

As the industry matures, additional investments will be made to further strengthen the group’s organisational and operational resilience, compliance teams and risk management.

In a statement on Jan 14, the group said it has more than US$5 billion in total client assets.

In 2024, the group’s revenue for all trading products, including cryptocurrency spot, derivatives, foreign exchange and traditional securities, surpassed the previous year’s total in the third quarter for the second year running.

It said total annual trades in 2024 increased by more than 1,000 per cent year on year, and that its business-to-business platform provides regulated crypto services to more than a third of the Swiss population.

In July 2024, Sygnum launched a round-the-clock multi-asset settlement network that counts members such as digital asset exchange AsiaNext and prime broker Hidden Road.

Before that, the group opened up a second new platform to its global institutional clients. This platform enables investors to trade on major crypto exchanges while holding their flexible choice of collateral in secure, bank-grade and bankruptcy-remote custody with the group.

The group, incorporated in 2018, is regulated in Switzerland, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, among others.

It has more than 2,000 institutional clients in over 70 countries.