Sygnum granted license for crypto hub in Abu Dhabi

Sygnum is expanding in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The digital asset bank from Zurich has received the requisite in-principle approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority.

According to a press release, Sygnum will be leveraging its oversubscribed Series B funding round, which raised US$90 million earlier this year, to expand its international activities in the Middle East. Mathias Imbach, Sygnum Co-Founder and Group CEO, explained this expansion “gives us access to one of the biggest global wealth and asset management pools”.

The new Sygnum hub will serve the local market with a crypto-native suite of banking services regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. Target clients will reportedly range from blockchain firms moving to the UAE for its well-regulated crypto environment to existing local crypto foundations and projects to “traditional” institutional investors and high net worth individuals.

Giulia Finkbeiner-Bertoni has been appointed as the “experienced” executive to open the offices and support the local market with a full range of crypto services.

“I am excited to join the global Sygnum team and introduce our vision for Future Finance to the Abu Dhabi financial community,” she says. “I believe that Sygnum’s core value of trust and its ability to build relationships will be an asset for years to come in this region.”