AMINA Bank (formerly SEBA) — Swiss Crypto Banking & Institutional Services

AMINA Bank — Entity Profile

AMINA Bank AG (formerly SEBA Bank, rebranded in 2022) is a FINMA-licensed digital asset bank headquartered in Zug, at the heart of Crypto Valley. Founded in 2018 and granted its banking license by FINMA in August 2019 alongside Sygnum, AMINA was one of the world’s first two regulated crypto banks. The bank is institutionally backed, notably by Julius Baer, and positions itself at the intersection of traditional Swiss private banking and digital asset management.

Formation and Leadership

AMINA was founded under the SEBA name by a team with deep Swiss banking credentials. Former CEO Guido Buhler previously served as UBS Chief Operational Risk Officer. Former Chairman Andreas Amschwand was a veteran of UBS and Julius Baer. This traditional banking DNA distinguishes AMINA’s approach — the bank explicitly positions itself as bringing institutional discipline to crypto, rather than disrupting traditional banking from outside.

The 2022 rebrand from SEBA to AMINA signaled strategic repositioning. The new name, derived from “trustworthy” in Arabic, reflected expansion beyond European markets toward the Middle East and Asia. The bank maintains offices in Zug (headquarters), Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, and London, providing multi-jurisdictional coverage for institutional clients.

Financial Performance (2024)

AMINA reported 74% revenue growth in 2024, with the loan book expanding to CHF 103 million from CHF 62 million the previous year. The bank entered profitability in Q4 2024 and expects a positive operating result by 2026 on a full-year basis. The CET1 capital ratio of 34.04% is exceptionally strong — more than double FINMA’s regulatory minimum — reflecting conservative capitalization that provides a buffer for growth.

Trading income from digital assets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and selected altcoins) remains the primary revenue driver, though the bank is actively diversifying toward recurring revenue streams including custody fees, staking income, and advisory mandates. The institutional client base includes pension funds, asset managers, family offices, and corporate treasuries — a client mix that generates higher-margin revenue than retail-focused competitors.

Regulatory Position

As a full FINMA banking licensee, AMINA operates under the same regulatory framework as UBS or Credit Suisse. This includes AML/KYC compliance under AMLA, capital adequacy requirements under the Banking Act, organizational requirements, and supervisory reporting obligations. The banking license provides unrestricted scope for deposit-taking, lending, investment services, and custody — exceeding the capabilities of the fintech license and proposed payment institution license.

AMINA’s regulatory positioning is relevant to the stablecoin regulatory evolution. Under FINMA Guidance 06/2024, the banking license satisfies the requirements for stablecoin issuance. Under the Federal Council’s 2025 proposal, banking licensees retain stablecoin issuance authority alongside the new payment institution licensees.

Service Architecture

AMINA’s core services span six areas. Crypto trading and execution covers major and mid-cap digital assets across spot and derivatives markets. Institutional custody provides segregated storage with multi-party computation (MPC) key management technology. Staking services generate yield on proof-of-stake assets held in custody. Tokenization services enable corporate clients to tokenize shares, bonds, and other financial instruments under the DLT Act framework.

Structured products — crypto-linked notes, tracker certificates, and custom payoff structures — differentiate AMINA from pure-play crypto exchanges. These products target institutional investors seeking crypto exposure through familiar structured finance wrappers. Advisory services provide strategic guidance on digital asset allocation, regulatory compliance, and tokenization feasibility.

Julius Baer Partnership

The Julius Baer backing provides AMINA with distribution access to one of Switzerland’s largest private banking networks. Julius Baer’s clients — high-net-worth individuals and family offices — represent a natural market for AMINA’s institutional crypto services. The partnership enables Julius Baer to offer crypto products without building internal infrastructure, while AMINA gains a client acquisition channel that would be prohibitively expensive to build independently.

Global Licensing — First Bank with MiCA License

AMINA’s most significant competitive differentiator is its multi-jurisdictional licensing portfolio. Beyond the FINMA banking license, AMINA holds an FSRA-regulated branch in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a crypto license in Hong Kong, and — most notably — a MiCA license from the Austrian FMA obtained in November 2025. This made AMINA the first bank globally to hold a MiCA license, enabling regulated crypto trading, custody, portfolio management, and staking services across the entire EU/EEA through its AMINA EU entity.

The MiCA license positions AMINA to serve professional investors, family offices, corporates, and financial institutions throughout Europe without the need for individual country-by-country authorization. Under MiCA’s passport mechanism, the Austrian FMA authorization enables AMINA EU to operate across all 27 EU member states plus EEA countries. This European footprint far exceeds Sygnum’s current geographic reach, which is limited to Switzerland and Singapore.

For Swiss companies serving EU customers, dual compliance with Swiss FINMA regulations and EU MiCA is the operational reality. AMINA’s decision to obtain a separate MiCA license through an EU-domiciled entity (AMINA EU) rather than relying on cross-border service provision from Switzerland illustrates the practical approach to navigating the Switzerland vs EU MiCA regulatory landscape. The cost of establishing and maintaining an EU-licensed entity is justified by direct market access to the world’s largest single financial services market.

B2B2C White-Label Solution

AMINA’s B2B2C white-label solution serves 17 institutional clients, enabling traditional financial institutions to offer crypto services under their own brand powered by AMINA’s regulated infrastructure. While smaller in scale than Sygnum’s B2B platform (which serves over 20 partner banks including PostFinance), AMINA’s solution differentiates through its multi-jurisdictional compliance capability — a partner bank using AMINA’s infrastructure can serve clients across Switzerland, the EU (via MiCA), Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong without building separate regulatory arrangements.

The trading-income-driven revenue model creates a different risk profile than Sygnum’s commission-focused approach. AMINA’s revenue growth of 74% in 2024 was driven primarily by digital asset trading activity, making revenue more correlated with market conditions. The bank’s path to profitability in Q4 2024 — with expectations of a full-year positive operating result by 2026 — demonstrates that the trading-driven model can achieve sustainability at scale, though it remains more cyclical than commission-based models.

SUI Integration and Innovation

AMINA became the first bank globally to offer custody, trading, and staking services for the SUI blockchain — a high-performance Layer 1 protocol developed by Mysten Labs. This first-mover positioning on emerging blockchain ecosystems differentiates AMINA from competitors that typically limit their asset universe to major cryptocurrencies and established tokens.

The SUI integration illustrates AMINA’s technology strategy: rapid integration of new blockchain protocols that institutional clients request, supported by the bank’s MPC-based key management infrastructure that can adapt to different blockchain architectures. This flexibility enables AMINA to serve clients whose digital asset strategies extend beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into emerging ecosystems — a positioning that aligns with the Crypto Valley ethos of innovation within regulated frameworks.

Lombard Lending and Institutional Products

AMINA’s Lombard lending services (crypto-backed fiat loans) expanded significantly in 2024, with the loan book growing to CHF 103 million from CHF 62 million. Borrowers pledge crypto assets as collateral and receive CHF or USD loans, enabling them to access liquidity without selling their crypto positions — a product particularly attractive to long-term holders seeking to avoid taxable disposition events (Swiss private investors do not pay capital gains tax on payment tokens under the current Swiss crypto tax framework).

The structured products offering — crypto-linked notes, tracker certificates, and custom payoff structures — provides institutional investors with exposure to digital assets through familiar financial instrument wrappers. These products undergo the same FINMA regulatory treatment as traditional structured products, with classification as asset tokens under FINMA’s framework. Prospectus requirements, suitability assessments, and investor protection obligations apply based on the product’s specific characteristics.

Advisory services round out AMINA’s institutional offering. The bank provides strategic guidance on digital asset allocation, regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions, tokenization feasibility assessments, and DLT Act implementation planning. For DAO foundations and protocol treasuries, AMINA’s advisory capabilities extend to treasury diversification strategies, custodial arrangements, and regulatory interface management.

Tokenization Services and DLT Act Integration

AMINA’s tokenization services enable corporate clients to tokenize shares, bonds, and other financial instruments under the DLT Act framework. The bank provides end-to-end tokenization advisory — from feasibility assessment and legal structuring through smart contract deployment and regulatory compliance. For companies considering the tokenization of equity or debt under the Registerwertrecht framework, AMINA’s tokenization expertise combines regulatory knowledge (FINMA compliance, prospectus requirements, AML/KYC integration) with technical implementation capability. The bank’s multi-jurisdictional licensing enables tokenized securities to be distributed across Switzerland, the EU (via AMINA EU’s MiCA license), and Abu Dhabi — providing cross-border distribution reach that domestic-only tokenization platforms cannot match.

Capital Strength and Risk Management

AMINA’s CET1 capital ratio of 34.04% is exceptionally strong — more than double the regulatory minimum and nearly twice Sygnum’s 17.48% ratio. This conservative capitalization reflects institutional backing (notably Julius Baer) and a deliberate strategy of building capital reserves before aggressive expansion. The excess capital provides a buffer for growth initiatives including the EU expansion via AMINA EU, new product launches, and potential acquisition opportunities.

The insurance market for crypto custody and banking has matured alongside Swiss crypto banks. AMINA maintains comprehensive insurance coverage for custodied digital assets, operational errors, and professional liability — coverage that institutional clients require as a precondition for custody relationships. Insurance providers including Zurich Insurance and specialized crypto insurance providers have developed policies calibrated for the specific risk profile of digital asset banking — covering theft, unauthorized access, key management failures, and operational errors that traditional banking insurance excludes.

Risk management practices reflect AMINA’s traditional banking DNA. Collateral monitoring for Lombard lending uses real-time price feeds with automated margin call triggers. Trading risk is managed through position limits, VaR-based monitoring, and stress testing across historical and hypothetical market scenarios. Cybersecurity and key management protocols meet FINMA’s organizational requirements for banking licensees — standards that exceed those required of fintech licensees or SRO members.

For comparison with Sygnum Bank, see our Sygnum vs AMINA analysis. For the broader Crypto Valley ecosystem, visit our ecosystem coverage. For the regulatory context, see FINMA token classification and Swiss regulation. For how AMINA’s custody services support DAO treasury management, see our governance section. For quantitative data, visit dashboards. For the stablecoin regulatory landscape relevant to AMINA’s operations, see our stablecoin analysis. For real estate tokenization services, see our DeFi coverage. For the Swiss crypto tax framework affecting AMINA’s custody clients, see our tax analysis. For external reference, visit the AMINA Group website.

Institutional Client Base and Market Segments

AMINA serves a diversified institutional client base spanning pension funds, asset managers, family offices, corporate treasuries, and financial institutions. The pension fund segment is particularly significant for AMINA’s growth trajectory, as Swiss pension funds managing over CHF 1 trillion in total assets are increasingly evaluating digital asset allocations. AMINA’s FINMA banking license satisfies the regulatory requirements that pension fund investment committees require before allocating to digital asset strategies. The family office segment leverages AMINA’s structured products capability, providing crypto exposure through familiar financial instrument wrappers that align with existing portfolio management frameworks. Corporate treasuries represent an emerging client segment, with companies holding Bitcoin and other digital assets as treasury reserves requiring institutional-grade custody and regulatory compliance that AMINA provides through its banking infrastructure.

Market Significance

AMINA’s trajectory from 2018 startup to globally licensed crypto bank demonstrates the viability of the institutional crypto banking model that Switzerland’s regulatory framework uniquely enables. The bank’s dual positioning — Swiss FINMA banking license for domestic credibility and MiCA license for European market access — creates a regulatory moat that new entrants cannot easily replicate. As the proposed crypto institution license creates lower-barrier entry points for specific crypto activities (custody, trading, market-making), AMINA’s full banking license continues to provide scope advantages including deposit-taking, lending, and investment services that more limited licenses cannot match. The bank’s institutional trajectory — from 2018 founding through August 2019 FINMA licensing, 2022 rebranding, Q4 2024 profitability, and November 2025 MiCA license — demonstrates that the Swiss regulatory framework can produce globally competitive crypto banking institutions within a relatively compressed timeline. For the Crypto Valley ecosystem of 1,749 companies and $593 billion valuation, AMINA’s success validates the institutional crypto banking model and attracts complementary service providers that further strengthen the ecosystem’s competitive position.