15 September 2025
Ian Simpson | 2 min read
Zürcher Kantonalbank is Switzerland’s 2nd (or 3rd…) largest bank by balance sheet. One year ago it launched a crypto service offering with much fanfare.
Now in an exclusive session, RULEMATCH Spot On host Ian Simpson sat down with two of the main persons responsible for the launch of ZKB’s crypto services – Head Digital Assets Solutions Pedro Hubli and Product Manager Digital Assets Michael Rausch.
They dove into the backstory of the bank’s move into crypto, how being a state-owned, AAA-rated bank influenced what (and how) ZKB implemented its offering.
Plus – Pedro and Michael discussed how crypto fits into the bank’s overall view on digital assets – and what “could” be a motivating factor for the bank to get involved in stablecoins.
Episode show notes:
2:13 – How big (and important) is Zurcher Kantonalbank?
3:31 – What does it mean to be a state-owned bank?
4:29 – The background of ZKB’s crypto offering
6:28 – Evaluating AML, risk, trading/custody setup
9:09 – Consulting the competition about custody and more
10:29 – How tokenization started the ball rolling
12:17 – Is it now “bitcoin AND blockchain” ?
13:22 – The lifecycle of crypto at ZKB: buying BTC with a broker
16:04 – The lifecycle of crypto at ZKB: booking and custody
18:44 – FOMO in the market because of ZKB’s crypto offering
20:49 – Best pricing for clients
22:50 – “Just another asset class” ?
23:46 – (Negative) surprise along the way
25:24 – The average ZKB crypto investor
26:54 – ZKB’s visibility in the market with crypto
30:14 – Crypto, digital assets and the changing face of finance
32:03 – PoCs are dead, real value reigns
32:53 – The missing cash leg (stablecoins)
35:33 – The missing cooperation in Switzerland
37:19 – Different kinds of stablecoins
38:34 – Where does tokenization take off?
43:00 – ZKB and non-bankable assets
44:37 – ZKB’s potential role in an on-chain finance world
45:40 – What is still missing for tokenization?
46:30 – The need for secondary markets
50:02 – Building on Ethereum and following the trend
51:30 – Final advice for other banks moving into crypto
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Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.