(Bloomberg) -- SEBA Bank AG, an online bank backed by Julius Baer Group Ltd. that’s focused on digital assets, plans to more than double its headcount in Asia, despite the recent rout in crypto assets.
The bank is seeking to increase its staffing to more than 20 in Hong Kong and Singapore, from about seven people now, adding legal, compliance and relationship manager staff, Eugene Sun, the bank’s head corporate development for Asia. The lender is seeking licenses in both cities, he said.
The ramp-up comes even as cryptocurrencies have slumped, with the collapse of the Terra ecosystem rattling investors. Regulators around the world are looking to rein in the market’s expansion amid increasing adoption from Main Street to Wall Street.
“We are finding the selloff to provide an opportunity commercially and in the war for talent, as clients and talent alike seek a more secure and more regulated platform for the promising future of digital assets,” said Sun.
Singapore intends to broaden the scope of cryptocurrency regulations, and revised rules may include further tightening retail-investor access to crypto and widening the ambit of regulations to cover more activities. Hong Kong is seeking to introduce a licensing system for virtual asset service providers. Wealthy investors across the globe have buying crypto - from Bitcoin to non-fungible tokens - but private banks have struggled to offer this to their rich clients for compliance reasons.
A UBS Group AG study showed that family offices are turning their attention to digital assets, with a quarter of those surveyed investing in crypto or considering it.
“Private banks generally are going to start to embrace crypto,” said Sun.
Liechtenstein-based private bank LGT Bank said in May it was partnering with SEBA to provide crypto to clients domiciled in Liechtenstein or Switzerland. SEBA Bank is also preparing to launch with LGT in Asia, said Sun, declining to be more specific.
SEBA Bank earlier this year raised 110 million Swiss francs ($119 million) in a funding round, which included Julius Baer and DeFi Technologies. It was started in Switzerland in 2018 and now supports more than 25 markets across the globe.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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