Buying is the easy part. Anyone who wants to turn bitcoin back into francs faces two questions nobody asked at the time of purchase: which route brings the money back to your account, and what will the bank say when CHF 40,000 from a crypto platform suddenly lands there?
The first question is quickly answered; the second only troubles many people once the credit has been frozen. This page compares cash-out routes for people living in Switzerland, lists the fees and explains which documents to have ready as proof of the source of funds – ideally before the bank asks. If you are an expat planning to leave Switzerland, read the tax section at the end too.
Four ways from crypto to francs
There are essentially four routes: selling on an exchange or app and withdrawing to your bank account, selling directly in a bank's e-banking, selling to other people on a Peer-to-peer: individuals trade directly with each other; the platform only brokers and secures the trade. marketplace, and cash at an ATM or exchange office. For the vast majority, the first route is the right one.
| Provider | Selling | Withdrawal | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEX.IO | 0.15% maker, 0.25% taker | no CHF; SEPA EUR 2.99, SWIFT 0.3% + USD 25 | contracting entity in Nevis |
| Kraken | Pro 0.40–0.80%, app 1–1.5% | SIC CHF 1, same day | account must be in your name |
| SwissBorg | 0.99% | 0.10%, min CHF 5, max CHF 110 | company in France |
| Relai | 1% plus network fee | to your own bank account | bitcoin only, from CHF 50 |
| DFX | 1.99% | CHF or EUR via SEPA | +1% if source of funds is unclear |
| YouHodler | not confirmed | 0.15% or CHF 15 | focus on leverage and loans |
A worked example with CHF 10,000: on Kraken Pro, selling as a taker costs CHF 80 and the SIC withdrawal CHF 1. At SwissBorg it is CHF 99 plus CHF 10 to withdraw, at Relai CHF 100 plus the network fee, at DFX CHF 199. Everywhere there is a The gap between the price you sell at and the market price. It is a cost, even if nobody calls it a fee. on top. The calculator at the top shows the current value in francs – the arrow flips the direction.
Kraken pays francs via SIC through Bank Frick, from CHF 2, for CHF 1, on the same day; SWIFT only from CHF 100. Your bank account must be in the same name as your Kraken account (Kraken review). SwissBorg charges 0.10% on franc withdrawals, at least CHF 5 and at most CHF 110 – good value for large sums, relatively expensive for small ones (SwissBorg review). Relai buys bitcoin back for 1%, with the seller paying the network fee; sales count towards the CHF 100,000 annual limit for buying and selling combined (Relai review). DFX in Zug charges private individuals 1.99% and, according to its terms and conditions, an extra 1% when the source of funds is unclear.
CEX.IO does not offer francs. Sell there and you receive euros via SEPA for EUR 2.99 or dollars via SWIFT for 0.3% plus USD 25, minimum USD 50; your bank then converts to francs at its own rate. Swiss customers contract with CEX OVRS LLC in Nevis, which holds no Swiss authorisation (CEX.IO review). When it comes to proving the source of funds, a euro credit from abroad is likely to raise more questions than a franc payment via SIC.
Sell where you bought: banks and neobanks
If you bought at PostFinance, ZKB, Yuh or Swissquote, life is simple. You sell in e-banking or the app, and the proceeds are in your account seconds later. The fee matches the purchase fee: 0.95% at PostFinance, 1% at ZKB, Yuh and Swissquote on the standard tariff. Hardly anyone asks for source-of-funds evidence here, because the bank knows the coins' history itself – it sold them to you.
Coins from outside, however, often cannot be sold there. PostFinance, ZKB and Zuger KB do not accept deposits from external wallets. Swissquote does, free from USD 500 and USD 10 below that. Lucerne Cantonal Bank accepts coins free of charge from CHF 5,000 per coin. All banks are compared in crypto banks in Switzerland.
P2P: selling to other people
On Peach Bitcoin, a Swiss marketplace run by a Neuchâtel company affiliated with the self-regulatory organisation PolyReg, you sell bitcoin to other users. Your coins sit in A holding arrangement: the coins are locked until both sides have done their part. until you confirm that payment has arrived; buyers pay by bank transfer or via services such as TWINT. Peach keeps 2% of the amount released from escrow.
The catch lies in the money you receive. Only confirm what has irrevocably reached your account, and refuse payments from third parties who are not the buyer – otherwise you may end up as a link in a fraud chain where the money is clawed back later. Lots of small credits from strangers will also catch your bank's eye. Common scams are described in crypto scams in Switzerland.
Cash: ATMs and exchange offices
At Värdex ATMs you can sell bitcoin – not ether – for francs: choose the amount, confirm with an SMS code, send the displayed amount from your own wallet within ten minutes, then collect CHF 100 notes once the network confirms. In Geneva, the exchange office Rex Change swaps crypto for cash at a 6% commission below CHF 1,000 and 5% up to CHF 9,999. From CHF 1,000 within 30 days, ID is required everywhere. Details in bitcoin ATMs in Switzerland and buying bitcoin with cash.
Francs via SIC to your own account, with statements your bank understands: the route that raises the fewest questions.
Operating since 2013Group registered with FinCEN (US) and the FCA (UK)
Why banks ask about crypto money
The bank's question is not personal suspicion – it is a legal duty. The Anti-Money Laundering Act requires banks to clarify the economic background of a payment when it seems unusual or there are indications that money stems from a crime (Art. 6 AMLA). If there is well-founded suspicion, the bank must report to the Money Laundering Reporting Office. A sudden CHF 40,000 from Liechtenstein, France or overseas landing in a salary account is exactly that kind of case.
On top of that, crypto is a special risk for banks: coins can come from fraud, extortion or the darknet, so many banks check incoming crypto proceeds more strictly than other payments. Neuchâtel showed how far this can go: in January 2024, Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise announced that from June it would no longer process crypto trading flows through its accounts, citing the cost of the checks. Most banks do not go that far. They do, however, want to see a coherent story – and you can provide one if you are prepared.
Source of funds: the documents to have ready
What the bank is looking for is an unbroken chain: francs from a legal source, purchase of the coins, storage, sale, and return to your account. The better each step is documented, the faster the review. These documents have proved useful:
- Bank statements showing your original deposits to the exchange or app – proof that legally earned money went into crypto.
- Statements and the full transaction history from the exchange in your name: buys, sells, deposits and withdrawals as PDF or CSV.
- For a wallet of your own: the addresses, the transaction IDs of transfers and, if asked, a signed message proving you control the address.
- Tax returns from previous years listing the coins in your securities list – often the single most convincing document.
- For coins received as gifts, inherited or mined: the gift contract, estate division, mining statements or a written account with dates and amounts.
- A one-page summary: when you bought, where the coins were held, why you are selling now and what the money is for.
The hardest cases are people who bought many years ago on an exchange that no longer exists. Dig out old confirmation emails, bank statements from the original transfers and the addresses in your wallet; the public blockchain shows how long coins have sat at an address. One uncomfortable but important point: if you have never declared your coins for tax, your position is weaker when it comes to proving where they came from. How to put that right is covered in declaring crypto on your tax return.
How to handle a large cash-out
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Tell your bank first
Announce larger amounts to your relationship manager or via an e-banking message and ask which documents they want.
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Build a file
Collect the documents from the list above as PDFs, sorted by date. A one-page summary makes the bank's job easier.
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Send a test amount
Withdraw a small amount first. That shows you how the payment arrives and whether the bank reacts.
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Francs to your own account
Have francs sent via SIC to an account in your own name. Payments to third parties or to accounts not in your name raise suspicion.
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Answer promptly
If the bank asks for more documents, send them complete. Partial answers drag the review out.
What not to do: deliberately split a large sum into many small withdrawals so it goes unnoticed. That is exactly the pattern banks look for, and it turns a harmless cash-out into a suspicious one. If the bank still blocks the payment despite a complete file, the remaining option is to switch to a bank that accepts crypto proceeds – for larger fortunes, perhaps one of the crypto banks covered in crypto banks in Switzerland.
When the coins come from your own wallet
If your coins are on a hardware wallet, you first need to send them to an exchange to sell. This is where the A rule requiring financial institutions to collect and pass on sender and recipient information with crypto transfers. applies: under FINMA Guidance 02/2019, institutions supervised by FINMA may only accept coins from external wallets that belong to their own verified customers. FINMA itself calls this one of the strictest regimes in the world. In practice you confirm that the address is yours, sometimes with a signed message or a small test transfer. International exchanges handle this in different ways; expect a form.
Allow some time for this, and with large sums send a small portion first. How to hold coins yourself is explained in crypto wallets in Switzerland.
Large amounts: OTC instead of the order book
From six figures upwards, Over the counter: trading outside the public order book, directly with a dealer at a price agreed in advance. trading is worth a look. Kraken OTC targets trades from USD 50,000 and settles to your Kraken account, a bank account or a wallet; Relai Private starts at CHF 100,000 with fees from 1.00% down to 0.20%. The advantage: one fixed price for the whole amount and a contact person who also knows what your bank will want to see. More in crypto OTC trading in Switzerland.
Tax when you sell
For a private investor, selling is uneventful from a tax point of view. Capital gains on crypto held as private wealth are tax-free, and losses are not deductible (Art. 16(3) of the Federal Direct Tax Act). That also applies when you cash out into francs. Things change if the tax office classifies you as a professional trader. The FTA applies Circular No. 36 by analogy: if you hold coins for at least six months, trade no more than five times your opening portfolio in a year, keep gains below 50% of your net income, do not trade on credit and use derivatives only for hedging, you count as a private investor in any case. Professional gains are taxed as income and are subject to AHV social security contributions.
The proceeds remain part of your wealth: whatever sits in your account or is still held in coins on 31 December is subject to wealth tax. If you are a US citizen, or about to move abroad, your other tax home may see things differently – check before you sell large amounts. Conveniently, the source-of-funds documents are the same ones the tax office wants to see, so collecting them properly once saves you work twice. Details in crypto tax in Switzerland and declaring crypto on your tax return.
