AMINA Bank

AMINA Bank AG emerged from the early wave of attempts to legitimise crypto banking through formal regulation. Founded in April 2018 and headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, AMINA holds a full banking licence from FINMA and has evolved into a comprehensive financial institution serving crypto and blockchain businesses. The bank's positioning reflects a deliberate strategy to bridge traditional banking with digital asset infrastructure, offering corporate clients not only current accounts and payments but also trading, custody, staking, and increasingly sophisticated tokenization capabilities for the emerging economy of blockchain-based assets.

The bank's regulatory structure is layered and international. AMINA Bank AG itself is FINMA-regulated and operates in Switzerland as the primary entity. Simultaneously, the bank operates AMINA (Austria) AG as a MiCAR-regulated crypto asset service provider, extending its regulatory footprint across European jurisdictions and giving clients access to services under the EU's Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation. This dual-licensing approach allows AMINA to serve both Swiss-resident and EU-resident clients with appropriate regulatory oversight, and reflects the bank's ambition to be a European-scale infrastructure provider rather than a Switzerland-only niche player.

For corporate clients in the crypto industry, AMINA's core offering centres on the corporate account, which functions as the operational foundation for a crypto business. Unlike consumer accounts or retail trading platforms, a corporate account through AMINA is designed to handle the banking operations of a business: current accounts in multiple currencies (CHF, EUR, USD, GBP, and others), payment processing, online banking platforms with APIs for integration into a company's own systems, virtual IBAN generation, and access to the bank's other services. A crypto exchange, payment processor, wallet provider, or blockchain development firm would use such an account as its primary banking relationship, not as a trading account for individual investors.

The bank's trading services extend beyond simple currency accounts to active cryptocurrency trading. AMINA customers with corporate accounts can trade digital assets (cryptocurrencies and other tokenised assets) through the bank's platform. The trading facility operates as an order execution and settlement service rather than a public exchange, giving professional clients direct access to trading without navigating third-party exchange risk or custody fragmentation. For a blockchain company managing its own treasury or a trading operation that needs banking-grade execution infrastructure, this integration simplifies the operational stack.

Custody is one of AMINA's core business lines. The bank offers institutional-grade crypto custody services, holding digital assets for clients in secure, segregated accounts. The custody offering includes both hot wallet technology for operational holdings and cold storage solutions for longer-term or strategic positions. Asset segregation is a formal feature of the custody arrangement, meaning a client's digital assets are held separately from AMINA's own treasury and from other clients' holdings. This legal separation matters significantly for corporate treasurers and compliance functions, because it clarifies ownership and reduces counterparty risk. The bank's FINMA regulation provides additional assurance that custody operations have been approved by financial authority oversight.

AMINA's staking and yield services reflect the maturation of proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms and other yield-generating digital asset strategies. For corporate clients holding digital assets for operational or strategic reasons, the ability to generate returns through staking or lending without moving assets away from the bank's custody represents both an efficiency gain and a reduction in operational risk. A blockchain company or crypto fund can stake assets or participate in yield protocols while maintaining the security and regulatory assurance of a FINMA-regulated counterparty.

One of AMINA's notable technical achievements was becoming the first regulated bank to launch operations on 21X, Europe's first fully regulated distributed ledger technology (DLT) trading and settlement venue. This positioning illustrates the bank's commitment to emerging financial infrastructure and its willingness to invest in the plumbing of next-generation capital markets. For clients building or participating in blockchain-based trading or settlement systems, AMINA's presence on regulated DLT venues signals both capability and regulatory comfort with the technology.

Tokenization services represent another frontier in AMINA's offering. As blockchain-based tokenization of real-world assets becomes operational infrastructure, a regulated bank capable of facilitating token issuance, custody, and trading becomes critical. AMINA has built capabilities to support clients in tokenising assets, such as equity, securities, real estate and commodities, and bringing tokenised products to market under formal regulatory oversight. For a fintech company, investment firm, or blockchain startup exploring asset tokenization, AMINA provides the regulatory and operational foundation to make it viable.

AMINA's Web3 Alliance program represents an attempt to address the needs of earlier-stage companies entering the digital asset space. The programme offers a bundled "startup package" designed to lower barriers to entry for blockchain companies and crypto startups that need banking infrastructure but may not yet have the scale or complexity that justifies full custom pricing. This is particularly relevant for founders in Switzerland or EU countries who want regulated banking relationships without the formality and cost floor of a wholly bespoke corporate setup.

The corporate account application process with AMINA reflects the rigour of FINMA regulation and the bank's own risk management practices. Applicants must submit detailed information about their business structure, ownership, management team, source of funds, and intended use of the account. The bank conducts AML/KYC (anti-money laundering and know-your-customer) screening and typically requires proof of legitimate business operations, regulatory compliance in the applicant's home jurisdiction, and clarity on the company's customer base and risk profile. For a blockchain startup or crypto exchange seeking legitimate banking partnerships, this level of due diligence is standard in the regulated banking industry and reflects AMINA's commitment to operating within Swiss financial law. The review process is not instantaneous, expect several weeks for evaluation, but it results in a banking relationship with clear legal standing.

Pricing for AMINA's services is structured around the scale and complexity of each client rather than published as a simple tariff. Corporate accounts typically involve setup fees and ongoing account maintenance charges. Trading, custody, and advanced services carry transaction-based or asset-based fees that scale with usage. For a very small operation, these costs may not make sense. For an established crypto business, the cost of regulated banking is often lower than the aggregate cost of managing counterparty risk across multiple fintech platforms and OTC providers.

Compared to other regulated crypto banks in Switzerland and Europe, AMINA occupies a middle ground. Sygnum Bank in Zurich has positioned itself as the pure-play digital asset bank with stronger specialisation in trading and custody for the largest institutional players. Bank Frick in Liechtenstein, under FMA regulation, has maintained a more traditional banking identity while building crypto capabilities. AMINA's strength lies in its dual-regulation posture (Swiss + EU), its accessibility to medium-sized corporate clients through the Web3 Alliance, and its investment in emerging DLT and tokenization infrastructure. For a European blockchain company or crypto business seeking a banking home that takes digital assets seriously without requiring the institutional minimum balances or fully bespoke relationship that the largest players demand, AMINA's positioning is particularly strong.

The regulatory environment in Switzerland around crypto banking has stabilised considerably since AMINA's founding in 2018. FINMA has published guidance on acceptable business models for licensed banks engaging with digital assets, and the legal framework is now mature enough that companies can plan for stability in their banking relationships. Choosing a FINMA-regulated bank like AMINA provides protection against regulatory capriciousness and confidence that the bank's license will not be arbitrarily revoked if the regulatory mood shifts.

AMINA Bank serves corporate clients and blockchain companies that need a full-featured banking relationship grounded in formal regulation, particularly those operating in Switzerland or European Union jurisdictions. For founders building crypto businesses or running blockchain operations that have outgrown consumer fintech accounts and need integrated trading, custody, and payment processing, AMINA provides a credible alternative to remaining reliant on multiple specialised service providers and OTC relationships.