BeInCrypto 100 Institutional Awards Nomination: Sygnum Bank for Best Digital Asset Custody Provider

For years, crypto was driven mostly by speculation. That phase is fading. What’s taking its place is slower, more practical work: rebuilding parts of the financial system using blockchain.

For banks and institutions, the focus has changed. Custody is no longer just about safekeeping assets. It’s about connecting those assets to the rest of the financial system in a way that is fast, compliant, and usable.

Sygnum Bank sits in the middle of that shift. And that’s why it is nominated for Best Digital Asset Custody Provider at the BeInCrypto 100 Institutional Awards 2026.

Custody Is No Longer Just Storage

Sygnum Bank has moved beyond the basic custody model. Instead of treating custody as a vault, it treats it as part of a broader financial service.

In a recent discussion with BeInCrypto’s Global Head of News, Brian McGleenon, Sygnum CIO Fabian Dori made that shift clear. He said security is no longer the main problem.

“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.”

That point shows up in how Sygnum operates.

BeInCrypto reviewed its regulatory standing, partnerships, and product activity across public filings and disclosures.

Sygnum was founded in 2017 and now reports more than $5 billion in client assets, over $1 billion in assets under custody, and more than 2,000 clients across four jurisdictions.

It became the first digital asset bank to receive a full banking and securities dealer licence from FINMA in 2019. Today, it operates under regulatory frameworks in Switzerland, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Luxembourg.

Its Protect off-exchange custody platform crossed $1 billion in assets in March 2026, with 900% year-on-year growth. Market maker Wintermute is one of its clients.

The bank has also pushed into settlement and tokenization.

In December 2025, Sygnum became the first European digital asset bank to work with BNY Mellon on USD settlement.

Through its Desygnate platform, it has tokenized real-world assets across multiple networks. This includes shares in Hamilton Lane’s $4.9 billion private assets fund on Polygon, and Fidelity International’s liquidity fund on zkSync Era. 

It also supported a private debt tokenization with Float and Fasanara Capital.

On the investment side, its BTC Alpha Fund raised more than 750 BTC within four months and has delivered around 15% annualized returns since launch. 

Trading activity across the platform grew more than 1,000% in 2024, partly driven by its infrastructure supporting over 20 partner banks.

Making Digital Assets Actually Usable

Client behavior is also changing. Dori said institutional clients are no longer satisfied with holding assets passively. They want to use them.

Sygnum’s model is built around that shift. Clients can access custody, lending, and yield strategies through a single interface, without moving assets across multiple platforms. The goal is to keep everything within a regulated environment while still allowing capital to be deployed.

Another issue the bank is trying to address is fragmentation.

Blockchains remain siloed. Different networks, standards, and systems create friction. Dori’s view is that clients should not have to deal with that complexity directly.

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

That approach matters as tokenization grows.

Estimates suggest the market could reach tens of trillions of dollars by 2030. If that happens, the challenge will not be building new chains. It will be making them work together in a way that institutions can actually use.

Sygnum’s strategy is straightforward. Hide the complexity. Keep the compliance tight. Make digital assets usable within the existing financial system.

The technology is already here. The real work now is connecting it.