Sygnum Bank: BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Nominee

The cryptocurrency landscape is transitioning from its speculative origins towards a more pragmatic focus on integrating blockchain technology into the existing financial system. This evolution signifies a shift for financial institutions, redefining custody beyond mere asset safekeeping to encompass seamless, compliant, and functional connectivity with broader financial markets.

Key Takeaways

• The primary challenge in digital asset custody has moved from security to integration with value-added services.
• Sygnum Bank is nominated for Best Digital Asset Custody Provider at the BeInCrypto 100 Institutional Awards 2026, reflecting its role in this industry shift.
• Sygnum has expanded its custody model to offer integrated financial services, including lending and yield strategies, within a regulated environment.
• The bank is actively addressing blockchain fragmentation by providing unified access to diverse networks and systems.
• Tokenization of real-world assets and partnerships with established financial players are key components of Sygnum’s strategy.

Sygnum Bank is prominently positioned within this transformative period, earning a nomination for Best Digital Asset Custody Provider at the BeInCrypto 100 Institutional Awards 2026. The bank’s approach elevates custody from a static storage function to a dynamic component of comprehensive financial services.

Custody Evolving Beyond Basic Storage

Fabian Dori, CIO of Sygnum, highlighted in a discussion with BeInCrypto that while security was an initial hurdle, it is now largely a resolved challenge at the institutional level. The current critical focus is on integration, linking custody solutions with services that provide tangible value.

“The key aspect of providing a secure custody solution was one of the first challenges. At this point, it’s largely solved at the institutional level. The real challenge now is integration — connecting custody with value-add services.”

Sygnum’s operational framework underscores this strategic pivot. Founded in 2017, the bank reports over $5 billion in client assets and more than $1 billion in assets under custody across more than 2,000 clients in four jurisdictions. Its regulatory approvals, including a full banking and securities dealer license from FINMA in 2019, enable operations in Switzerland, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Luxembourg.

Sygnum’s Protect off-exchange custody platform surpassed $1 billion in assets in March 2026, demonstrating significant year-on-year growth. The bank has also made strides in settlement and tokenization, notably partnering with BNY Mellon for USD settlement and tokenizing real-world assets such as private equity funds on Polygon and liquidity funds on zkSync Era.

Furthermore, Sygnum’s investment products, such as the BTC Alpha Fund, have shown strong performance, attracting significant capital and delivering consistent annualized returns. Trading volume on the platform has also seen substantial growth, fueled in part by its infrastructure supporting over 20 partner banks.

Enhancing Usability of Digital Assets

The demand from institutional clients is evolving; they are increasingly seeking to actively deploy digital assets rather than merely holding them. Sygnum’s platform is designed to meet this need by offering integrated access to custody, lending, and yield generation strategies through a unified interface, all within a regulated framework.

“What we aim to provide is unified access. Behind the scenes, we use different systems and tools to handle the fragmentation.”

This approach addresses the persistent issue of blockchain fragmentation, where disparate networks and standards create operational friction. Sygnum aims to abstract this complexity for clients, offering a seamless experience. As the tokenization market is projected to reach trillions of dollars, the ability to interoperate and create unified access across different blockchain ecosystems will be paramount. Sygnum’s strategy focuses on simplifying complexity while maintaining stringent compliance, thereby making digital assets functionally integrated within the broader financial system.

Based on materials from : beincrypto.com