Shalini Nagarajan

Crypto-focused Swiss bank SEBA&#8217;s Hong Kong branch has received preliminary approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).



SEBA Hong Kong said obtaining an Approval-in-Principle (AIP) for its license application will allow it to engage in regulated activities in the city-state.



Once granted, the bank will be among the first set of licensed entities in Hong Kong to offer crypto investment services.



“We see enormous potential in Hong Kong&#8217;s journey to becoming a global crypto market leader and look forward to contributing to that trajectory,” Amy Yu, CEO of Asia Pacific at SEBA Hong Kong, said in a statement.



Yu told Blockworks that the regional subsidiary anticipates securing its complete license by the fourth quarter of this year.&nbsp;



This outcome is contingent on meeting the conditions set forth by the SFC relating to specific confirmations and internal protocols.



Yu said SEBA is considering expanding into other crypto centers in the region, like Singapore.



Earlier this year, Hong Kong authorities <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/hong-kong-to-lift-crypto-ban">established a licensing system</a> and lifted the ban on retail crypto trading in May, signaling a move towards becoming a more prominent crypto hub.



Soon after, the city’s banking regulator reportedly <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/hong-kong-banks-embrace-crypto">encouraged</a> major banks to consider crypto exchanges as clients following the introduction of a comprehensive regulatory framework designed to foster innovation.



Currently, only HashKey and OSL Exchange appear on the SFC&#8217;s <a href="http://sfc.hk/en/Welcome-to-the-Fintech-Contact-Point/Virtual-assets/Virtual-asset-trading-platforms-operators/Lists-of-virtual-asset-trading-platforms">list</a> of licensed crypto platforms.



The SFC <a href="http://blockworks.co/news/hong-kong-regulator-warning-unlicensed-platforms">previously warned that crypto platforms misrepresenting</a> their licensing status, or claiming to be in the process of securing a license, would be penalized if they subsequently apply for genuine approval from the regulator.



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Hong Kong

Swiss bank SEBA nears approval for Hong Kong crypto services

Ben Strack

A longtime product executive who has spent time at Robinhood, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and American Express is moving into the crypto space.



Digital assets platform FalconX revealed Tuesday it has hired <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cetinok/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Baris Cetinok</a> as its chief product officer. 



Cetinok most recently led product teams for Robinhood&#8217;s brokerage, trading and clearing platforms. Before that, he served in various senior roles for Apple, including senior director of product management for Apple Wallet, Apple Pay and iCloud.&nbsp;



&#8220;Post-FTX fallout, there&#8217;s a growing need among institutional investors to improve risk management and trade more efficiently,&#8221; Cetinok said in a statement. &#8220;It&#8217;s an honor to join a company creating dependable infrastructure that facilitates global investor access to crypto while enabling the tokenization of traditional assets.&#8221;



Polygon Labs added <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-rettig-8b90a284/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rebecca Rettig</a> as its first chief policy officer as the blockchain platform eyes institutional growth.



Rettig was formerly a board member at Silvergate Bank and chief legal and policy officer at Aave Companies. She also previously represented blockchain and crypto clients as a partner at Manatt, Phelps &amp; Phillips.



“The end of 2022 was rough for crypto,” Rettig said in a Thursday tweet. “I did some soul searching about the industry [and] how to build a future I believe in. I kept coming back to the same idea: the most important thing right now is getting crypto policy right.”



She added that Polygon Labs is set to advocate for base-layer protection, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 gaming and innovative apps growing the Web3 world, as well as “sensible” regulation around front-ends, wallets and bridges.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">11/ The next few years will determine the fate of web3. They won’t be easy, but we aren’t going anywhere. No paradigm-shifting tech has seamlessly changed the world. I’ve rolled up my sleeves, contemplated drinking coffee &amp; I am, as I have been for years, here for the mission.💪&mdash; Rebecca Rettig (@RebeccaRettig1) <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1/status/1623672097774923778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Rettig is also set to help develop legal frameworks for the Polygon-based tokenization of real-world assets, according to the company.&nbsp;



An executive at banking titan State Street told Blockworks last year that using <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/state-street-sees-significant-opportunity-in-tokenization">distributed ledger technology to tokenize funds and private assets</a> would be a major focus in 2023. Larry Fink, CEO of asset management giant BlackRock, said in November he believes tokenization of securities is “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-ceo-still-in-crypto-for-the-tech-despite-ftx-scandal">the next generation for markets</a>.”



Venture capital firm a16z promoted <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddy-lazzarin-66059749/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eddy Lazzarin</a> to chief technology officer for its crypto fund. 



A firm that invests in crypto and Web3 startups, a16z crypto has raised more than $7.6 billion for its four funds.



Lazzarin joined a16z as a data scientist in 2019 and became the company’s head of engineering about two years later. He is now set to oversee the research and security unit in addition to the engineering and data science division he had already been leading.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Under his leadership, a16z crypto’s engineers have been continuously adding to our suite of open-source tools that benefit the entire ecosystem — including Helios, Halmos, privacy-protecting airdrops, a starter pack for NFT analysis and more to come,” a16z partner Chris Dixon said in <a href="https://twitter.com/cdixon/status/1623397398201634821" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a tweet thread</a> Wednesday.



Hong Kong-based Web3 company Artifact Labs appointed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-pon-89666a2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Phillip Pon</a> as CEO. He replaces founder Gary Liu, who moves onto the company&#8217;s board as its director.



The company offers advisory services, product development, blockchain engineering and community management for entities looking to launch NFT projects.



Pon was previously the chief operating officer for digital asset company BC Technology Group and president of crypto exchange OSL. He was also chief operating officer of energy services company Lumenix and a longtime senior executive at financial services firm Gerson Lehrman Group.



What other crypto hiring news has Blockworks already covered this week?



Swiss crypto-focused bank SEBA hired a former JPMorgan banker to head its Asia Pacific division.



See: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ex-jpmorgan-banker-hired-as-swiss-crypto-banks-apac-head">Ex-JPMorgan Banker Hired as Swiss Crypto Bank’s APAC Head</a>



<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-yu-b94862168/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amy Yu</a> previously worked within JPMorgan’s prime brokerage services division for six years and also formerly worked at traditional finance giant UBS and Nomura. Yu jumped into crypto in 2018 by joining BitMEX to develop services for institutional clients. She then became head of sales for the Asia Pacific region at Genesis, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genesis-in-chapter-11-wont-insulate-silbert-winklevoss-says" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed for bankruptcy</a> in January.



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FalconX

Latest in Crypto Hiring: Robinhood Exec Jumps Ship to Digital Asset Platform

Swiss crypto-focused bank SEBA has hired a former JPMorgan banker to head its Asia Pacific division.



Amy Yu previously worked within JPMorgan’s prime brokerage services division for six years. She earlier held roles in other traditional financial institutions, UBS and Nomura.&nbsp;



Yu ventured into the world of crypto in 2018, joining crypto exchange BitMEX to develop services for institutional clients. Then she became head of sales for the Asia Pacific region at Genesis, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genesis-in-chapter-11-wont-insulate-silbert-winklevoss-says">filed for bankruptcy</a> in January.



Her appointment to SEBA signifies the company’s intent to expand across Asia Pacific, and she will initially be based in Singapore, according to a <a href="https://www.seba.swiss/media-and-investors/SEBA-bank-appoints-amy-yu-as-apac-ceo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a>. In November, Hong Kong became SEBA’s first strategic location to drive growth in the region, with a new office set up there. 



Yu joins the bank as someone with deep domain expertise in both crypto and traditional banking in the region, SEBA said.



“Following the recent opening of our office in Hong Kong, Yu has the successful track record and expertise to capitalize on this momentum and lead our business through the next pivotal phase of development in the region,” Franz Bergmueller, SEBA Bank’s CEO, said in a statement.



Backed by Swiss wealth management group Julius Baer and founded in April 2018, SEBA operates a universal suite of regulated banking services in the digital economy. Ahead of the Merge last year, the bank implemented <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/seba-bank-enables-ether-staking-as-merge-nears">ether staking services</a> for large clients.



Yu acknowledged the crypto industry’s troubles of last year in an <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-07/crypto-bank-seba-hires-ex-jpmorgan-banker-as-asia-pacific-ceo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview</a> with Bloomberg, saying there are lessons to be learned from the recent crisis.



The bank currently has just three staff members in Singapore, and future hiring will depend on how licensing goes, she added.



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Amy Yu

Ex-JPMorgan Banker Hired as Swiss Crypto Bank’s APAC Head

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_63596e2992aa6" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>NFTs are held in customers&#8217; bank accounts, just like any other digital assets</li>
 <li>The bank will only accept ERC-721 NFTs, the same token standard powering Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Swiss fintech bank SEBA will now custody NFTs just like any other customer deposit — but only Ethereum collections including Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).



The bank became one the first banks in Switzerland to secure an institutional license to custody digital assets for Swiss-based funds and institutional investors in 2021.&nbsp;



Now, SEBA <a href="https://www.seba.swiss/media-and-investors/seba-bank-brings-regulated-custody-to-blue-chip-nfts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">says</a> it’s the first regulated bank to offer NFT custody. Both individuals and institutions can hold their non-fungible tokens in their bank accounts and manage them alongside other digital assets such as stablecoins, bitcoin and ether.



Via an institutional-grade custody platform, the bank allows safe storage of any client’s Ethereum-based NFT “without the hassle of managing private keys themselves,” SEBA said.



The bank will only accept ERC-721 NFTs, the same token standard powering top collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CloneX. SEBA supports over 16 cryptocurrencies and specializes in bitcoin custody and lending, with a small <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/seba-bank-enables-ether-staking-as-merge-nears/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">selection</a> of staking options.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">📢 𝗦𝗘𝗕𝗔 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹-𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀&#39; 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗙𝗧𝘀🚀 Read more here➡️ <a href="https://t.co/zdo1gdW0dY">https://t.co/zdo1gdW0dY</a> <a href="https://t.co/qlxMoM4KzS">pic.twitter.com/qlxMoM4KzS</a>&mdash; SEBA Bank AG (@WeAreSEBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WeAreSEBA/status/1585168144871882752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



SEBA said it’s responding to a “clear demand for trusted custody solutions,” as stated in the press release. This new feature is aimed at institutional investors looking to safeguard their blue-chip tokens and “include them in the total wealth picture” their portfolios represent.



The move comes on the heels of a recent brief hype within the NFT market fueled by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/reddit-makes-pfp-nfts-cool-again-marketplace-trading-volume-surges/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reddit’s NFT marketplace trading volumes</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/azuki-nfts-set-the-record-for-most-expensive-skateboards-in-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Azuki’s record-setting sales</a>. Indeed, the <a href="https://nftgo.io/analytics/market-overview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">number</a> of NFT holders keeps growing — despite the bear market.



Correction: CryptoPunks are ERC-20 NFTs, not ERC-721 NFTs. Updated Oct. 26 at 2:18 pm ET.



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Bored Ape Yacht Club

Swiss Bank SEBA Now Custodies Blue-chip Ethereum NFTs

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_e0bab1e7d0364fcbb74de0972f2846e5" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Variable lock-up periods for staking will be made available post-merge alongside a fee structure</li>
 <li>Ether staking on SEBA brings the platform’s total PoS offerings to four, joining the likes of Cardano, Tezos and Polkadot</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Swiss-regulated crypto platform SEBA Bank has implemented ether staking services for large clients ahead of the network’s anticipated <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/ethereum-Merge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Merge</a> event later this month.



The touted institutional-grade offering allows its users to generate rewards on their ether holdings on a monthly basis, the bank said in a statement.



Variable lock-up periods will be instituted post-merge. No staked ether can be withdrawn from Ethereum’s Beacon Chain until after a subsequent network upgrade, dubbed Shanghai, expected in the second quarter of 2023.



The Beacon Chain merging with its Mainnet, on track to trigger around Sept. 15, is one of the most <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/what-could-happen-to-the-ether-price-following-the-merge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hotly anticipated</a> and significant developments in the project’s history.



The event lays the groundwork to increase network scalability and security while reducing its carbon footprint by transitioning to Proof-of-Stake — believed to cut energy consumption by more than 99%.



A transition to PoS will do away with miners securing the network, instead replaced by validators who put at stake ether for the privilege. Currently, there are around 422,000 validators worldwide, staking 13.5 million ether (or around $20.5 billion at today’s prices).



Those depositing more than 32 ETH (about $48,500) to SEBA will have a validator activated on their behalf, in this case, managed by the bank itself.



“The launch of our Ethereum staking services will enable institutional investors to play a key role in securing the future of the network,” Mathias Schutz, the bank’s head of technology and client solutions, said in the statement.



Ether rewards on SEBA join the bank’s existing PoS offerings which include Cardano, Polkadot and Tezos, first introduced to market in October of last year with the rollout of its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/swiss-digital-asset-bank-seba-launches-institutionally-focused-crypto-yield-product/">Earn product</a>.



Initially spun up by former employees of investment banking platform UBS, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)-regulated entity offers custody and crypto storage solutions to large clients.



It became the country’s first firm to receive an institutional <a href="https://www.sif.admin.ch/sif/en/home/finanzmarktpolitik/financial-market-regulation/regulatory-projects/collective-investments-scheme-act-cisa.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CISA</a> license by FINMA, almost a year ago, enabling it to offer custody solutions to Swiss mutual funds and investment schemes utilizing <a href="https://www.seba.swiss/media-and-investors/seba-bank-secures-the-first-institutional-licence-to-custody-collective-investment-schemes-for-digital-assets-in-switzerland" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">liquid crypto</a>.



Earlier this year, the bank raised <a href="https://www.seba.swiss/media-and-investors/seba-bank-raises-chf-110-million-in-serie-c-Funding-to-fuel-international-growth-and-drive-institutional-business/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CHF 110 million</a> ($111 million) in Series C funding to bolster growth. That round was co-led by a consortium of blockchain and fintech investors alongside participation from crypto exchange FTX, according to a separate statement.



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Ethereum

SEBA Bank Enables Ether Staking as Merge Nears

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61ded05a78416" class="highlights">
 
</div>


<div id="highlights-block_61ded06478417" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The FINMA licensed bank has raised a total of $248.9 million, or CHF 230 million in financing to date</li>
 <li>“This funding has fuelled our rapid growth and ensures that we continue to cement our position as the bank of the new economy,” Buehler said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Switzerland-based SEBA Bank, a digital assets banking platform, has raised about $119 million, or CHF 110 million, in a Series C funding round, the company shared on Wednesday.&nbsp;



“The round was significantly oversubscribed, reaffirming our vision and business strategy as the bank of the new economy,” Guido Buehler, CEO of SEBA, told Blockworks in an email.



The capital raise was co-led by Altive, Ordway Selections, Summer Capital and DeFi Technologies. Other participants include Alameda Research, FTX and other existing investors.&nbsp;



The FINMA licensed bank was founded in April 2018 and has raised a total of $248.9 million — or CHF 230 million — in financing to date, Buehler said. There is no public valuation to disclose at this time, he said.



“This funding has fuelled our rapid growth and ensures that we continue to cement our position as the bank of the new economy,” Buehler said. Additionally, the financing will ensure that it can rapidly build its presence in emerging markets, as a response to client demand, he said.&nbsp;



The capital will be used to expand into new priority markets globally, including the Middle East, he noted. Additionally, it will be used to drive institutional business growth through further investment in SEBA’s product offerings and technology.



In general, the company has seen significant accelerated interest in digital asset services over the past year, most notably from institutional players, Buehler said.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“A number of macro trends globally are also encouraging institutional players to move now on digital assets, including negative yields on traditional investment products and the greater regulatory clarity on digital assets provided across a number of jurisdictions,” he added.&nbsp;</blockquote>



In October, SEBA launched a yield generating product to allow institutions to stake and earn yield on their digital assets, Blockworks previously <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/swiss-digital-asset-bank-seba-launches-institutionally-focused-crypto-yield-product/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. Separately, the bank wrote in a <a href="https://www.seba.swiss/research/crypto-2022-the-wheel-turns/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog</a> post earlier this month that the crypto ecosystem stands at a crucial juncture and this year bitcoin adoption will be strong as institutional investors progressively enter the market.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
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<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Funding

Swiss Digital Asset Bank SEBA Raises $119M to Grow International and Institutional Adoption

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_6166d8261f073" class="highlights">
 
</div>


<div id="highlights-block_6166d82d1f074" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>More and more institutions are putting bitcoin on their balance sheet — but does it create yield?</li>
 <li>SEBA’s product allows for institutions to store their crypto and generate moderate amounts of yield via a Swiss-licensed institution</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Switzerland’s SEBA Bank, a fintech bank which recently <a href="https://www.seba.swiss/media-and-investors/seba-bank-secures-the-first-institutional-licence-to-custody-collective-investment-schemes-for-digital-assets-in-switzerland" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">secured the first license</a> from Swiss Authorities to custody digital assets for Swiss-based funds and institutional investors, announced today the launch of SEBA Earn, its yield generating product for custodied crypto.&nbsp;



“It is clear that as institutional interest in digital assets accelerates, investors have a broader appetite for crypto assets, with a particular interest in earning services like staking, DeFi and centralized crypto borrowing and lending,” Guido Buehler, CEO of SEBA Bank, said in a release.



The bank will allow its institutional clients to lend out their bitcoins — a relatively low-risk way of generating liquidity for bitcoins on the corporate balance sheet.&nbsp;



SEBA says that at launch its product will first support yield generating via staking, with support for more earning services coming down the road. As Proof-of-Stake protocols become more and more common alongside institutional adoption of digital assets, SEBA says it is meeting a market demand from corporations that now hold crypto on their balance sheets and are after “<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/institutions-staking-eth-2-want-internet-bonds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">internet bonds”</a>.



“SEBA Bank has seen interest from across our client segments, including institutions and professional clients. Individual clients have shown tremendous appetite to engage in staking via our fully regulated and supervised banking entity,” Buehler said in an email.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Institutions, ranging from our banking clients, funds, crypto platforms, and family offices have shown interest and are keen to engage with SEBA Bank in this new offering.”</blockquote>



In an email to Blockworks, Buehler did note that Ethereum 2.0 staking isn’t currently supported, and new coins would be added according to client demand. The bank also said that it plans to provide lending services in the near future.&nbsp; 



SEBA joins a growing list of digital asset focused banks that have begun institutional outreach. In the US, Anchorage has <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gics-anchorage-investment-sheds-light-on-future-of-digital-assets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">positioned itself</a> as the “crypto bank” for financial institutions such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/oasis-pro-markets-taps-anchorage-for-ats-custody-and-settlement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oasis Pro Markets</a>, inking deals to become their infrastructure enabler, or <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bankprov-partners-with-anchorage-for-ethereum-backed-loans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BankProv</a> to provide dollar loans against digital assets.

SEBA

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