Switzerland and Singapore-based Sygnum Bank announced the successful close of an oversubscribed $58 million strategic growth round, pushing its post-money valuation beyond $1 billion, officially earning Unicorn status.
The final round was anchored by Fulgur Ventures, a firm specializing in Bitcoin technologies. Alongside Fulgur, other strategic and financial investors, both new and existing, participated in the round. Sygnum employees, co-founders, and board members also contributed, maintaining majority ownership.
โSygnum’s robust infrastructure, expert digital asset team, and expansive global ecosystem make them the perfect partner for co-developing cutting-edge Bitcoin financial products,โ said Oleg Mikhalsky, partner at Fulgur Ventures.
The funding comes shortly after Sygnum raised over $40 million in January 2024 during an interim strategic funding round led by Azimut Holding at a $900 million valuation.
The new capital will be used to:
- Expand the product portfolio focusing on Bitcoin technology
- Broaden institutional financial infrastructure
- Strengthen compliance operations
- Explore strategic acquisitions and fuel European expansion efforts, including a new regulated presence in Hong Kong.
Sygnum currently holds regulatory licenses in Switzerland, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein, with plans to extend its MiCA-compliant regulatory framework across the EU.
โSygnumโs Unicorn milestone validates our strategy and highlights the necessity for Switzerland to remain innovative in the digital asset space to retain relevance,โ said Mathias Imbach, Sygnumโs co-founder and CEO.
$5 Billion in Client Assets and Rising
The crypto bank achieved operational profitability in 2024, driven by a significant increase in trading activity across products such as spot crypto, derivatives, and traditional securities. Trade volumes soared over 1,000% year-over-year, and the firm now manages $5 billion in client assets for more than 2,000 customers across 70 countries.
In 2024, Sygnum launched several key initiatives, including:
- Sygnum Connect, a 24/7 multi-asset settlement platform
- Sygnum Protect, providing secure collateralized trading for institutional clients
Additionally, the firm collaborated with Fidelity International, Matter Labs, Hamilton Lane, and Chainlink on tokenization and on-chain fund data initiatives.
Ethereum ETFs Show Promising Growth
Following the approval of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. last July, Sygnum predicted annual inflows between $5 billion and $10 billion.
Six months later, Ethereum ETFs recorded $2.5 billion in net inflows, compared to $18.9 billion for Bitcoin ETFs, aligning with Sygnumโs forecast of a 13% proportion of Bitcoinโs inflows.
As Sygnum continues its growth, the bank remains focused on innovation while navigating evolving regulatory landscapes across global markets.