Sygnum sees a 400% increase in average annual trading volume growth since 2020

Néstor Palao spoke to Blockworks about the trends he’s seeing in crypto projects

article-image

Skrypnykov Dmytro/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


One of the biggest narratives we’ve discussed a lot is the rise of institutional adoption. 

Sygnum, the digital asset banking group, is no stranger to the shift and announced yesterday that it’s seen a 400% increase in its average annual growth in trading volumes since 2020. 

“What we have seen over the past year and a half is a significant number of traditional institutional trading counterparties coming into the industry and gaining interest in using our solutions to delve into the space,” Sygnum’s Head of Corporate Clients, Néstor Palao, told me.

“We talk about brokerage firms, prime brokers, investment funds and family offices that see, in Sygnum, a regulated gateway into this industry. And this, I would say, indeed, is something that we have seen growing.”

But the change — and overall growth in the industry — has led to crypto projects themselves evolving. 

Specifically, Palao noted that startups have been approaching Sygnum more and more. In the past, they’d just seek out a bank account so that they could pay employees or contractors, since traditional banks were, well, not so welcoming. 

But over the last few years, projects have come to Sygnum and “professionalized themselves significantly.” Palao explained that these projects now have a finance department, not just a founding team, and “professionalize the management of their capital.”

“We see projects daily that launch a project; they manage to raise a significant amount of capital, or their token gains a lot of attention, and they end up sitting on a very significant balance of treasury assets,” he explained. 

“In the beginning, it was purely to ‘Give me a bank account so I can pay my employees.’ Now, it’s still that, but it’s also a lot more about, ‘How can I properly manage my treasury of tokens? How can I hedge my exposure? How can I generate yield on my holdings?’”

What Palao told us lines up with what we’ve seen in other segments around crypto, too. Back in February, PitchBook’s Robert Le noted that the rebound in venture capital activity was pretty focused on “established” teams. 

Oh, how time flies…

Updated April 30, 2025 at 11:35 am ET: Modified headline.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Nillion_DeSci_Report_Template.png

Research

Nillion’s Monad Integration is poised to catalyze the next phase of DeSci’s evolution by eliminating key privacy bottlenecks. This synergy allows researchers, institutions, and DAOs to exchange sensitive data and insights securely while managing governance and payments onchain.

article-image

Celebrating the wisdom of a diamond-handed Bitcoin Legend

article-image

With the success of RWAs and stablecoins, DePINs could onboard the next wave of crypto users

article-image

Is crypto straying too far from things of value?

article-image

Firedancer and Solana ETFs look less significant than before

article-image

The newly passed House bill amplifies that strategic pivot for the Trump administration, from attempting austerity to running the economy hot

article-image

Unable to secure further funding, the game cycled through three different blockchains and at least five different game engines since 2018