Buying CHF 2,000 of bitcoin takes one tap. Investing CHF 250,000 or turning inherited crypto into francs raises other questions: how far will my order move the price, who will sell me the whole amount at a fixed rate, what paperwork is needed, and where do the coins go afterwards?
This page explains what Over the counter: a trade made directly between two parties rather than through an exchange’s public order book, at a price fixed for the whole amount. trading is, which firms handle large tickets in Switzerland, which minimums are public, and what applies to source of funds, custody and tax. Where providers publish nothing, we say “on request”.
The cluster of crypto banks, custodians and desks here is no accident. Private banking has deep roots in Zurich and Geneva; in 2019 two crypto specialists, Sygnum and SEBA (now AMINA), won FINMA banking licences; and according to the 2026 IFZ Crypto Assets Study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland and Liechtenstein were home to 399 crypto-asset companies, about a third of them in the canton of Zug (Crypto Valley Zug).
What OTC means – and when it is worth it
On an exchange you buy from the The list of all open buy and sell orders on an exchange, sorted by price. Its depth shows how much can trade at which price.. A large buy order first takes the cheapest offers and then works its way up to more expensive ones. The gap between the price you expected and the average price you actually paid is called The difference between the expected and the achieved price, because a large order eats through several price levels of the order book..
A simplified example with freely chosen round numbers: the book holds 0.5 BTC at CHF 80,000, another 0.5 BTC at CHF 80,100, then 1 BTC at CHF 80,300. A market order for 2 BTC costs an average of CHF 80,175 – 0.22% above the best displayed price, before fees. An OTC desk instead quotes one fixed price for the whole amount and takes the execution risk itself.
OTC is mainly worth it when your order is large relative to order-book depth, when you want to settle in francs from a Swiss account, or when you need a firm price and a clean contract note for your tax file.
Below roughly CHF 50,000, a normal account usually does the job, and even larger amounts can be spread over several days with limit orders. Bitcoin Suisse offers Time-weighted average price: an execution algorithm that spreads a large order evenly over a period to move the price less. orders that split an order automatically over hours. At Swissquote, fees fall with 30-day volume to 0.08% maker and 0.18% taker above USD 60 million. And if you would rather not hold coins at all, a crypto ETP on SIX is an option (crypto ETPs).
Who offers OTC in Switzerland
The table shows only information published by providers or named sources; terms are almost always negotiated case by case.
| Status | Who for, from what size | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin Suisse | VQF SRO member, not a bank | Wealthy and institutional clients, no published minimum | on request |
| Sygnum Bank | Bank, FINMA | Private clients from CHF 100,000 (secondary source) | 0.8%, min. CHF 80 (price list) |
| AMINA Bank | Bank, FINMA | Professional clients only | on request |
| Crypto Finance | Securities firm, FINMA | Financial institutions only | on request |
| Kraken OTC | no Swiss licence | from USD 50,000 | on request |
| Swissquote | Bank, FINMA | Private and institutional | down to 0.08% maker |
| Bity | SO-FIT SRO member | Private Trade Desk | up to 2.5% all-in |
| Relai Private | VQF SRO member | Bitcoin only, from CHF 100,000 | 1.00% down to 0.20% |
| Mt Pelerin | SO-FIT SRO member | Large purchases and cash-outs | Bank transfer 0.9% to 0.6% |
Bitcoin Suisse in Zug is one of the country’s oldest crypto finance firms and has been a member of the VQF self-regulatory organisation since 2014. It is not a bank: according to Netzwoche, it dropped its banking-licence plans in January 2024. In summer 2026 its European subsidiary received a MiCA licence from Liechtenstein’s FMA, and a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi an ADGM licence. In September 2026 it announced that up to 60 of its 120 Swiss jobs would move to Bratislava and Vietnam as it refocuses on wealthy and institutional clients and wealth management. On offer: more than 65 assets, custody and A loan secured against securities or crypto you pledge, so you don’t have to sell them. in CHF, EUR and USD. No public fee schedule.
Sygnum Bank has held a FINMA banking and securities dealer licence since 2019 and supplies the technology behind the crypto services of PostFinance, Zug Cantonal Bank and BancaStato. For private clients, its price list reportedly sets a CHF 100,000 minimum and a 0.8% trading fee with a CHF 80 minimum – figures seen only in search excerpts, so check them.
AMINA Bank (SEBA until 2023) is a FINMA-licensed Swiss bank. It only accepts professional clients: assets of at least CHF 500,000 plus relevant knowledge, or at least CHF 2 million. There is no minimum deposit, and trading runs 24/7, including through a trading desk.
Crypto Finance AG, part of Deutsche Börse, is supervised by FINMA as a securities firm and, by its own account, holds no banking licence. It serves financial institutions only – among other things it executes Zurich Cantonal Bank’s crypto orders.
Kraken OTC, run by the Payward group, handles trades from USD 50,000, settled to your Kraken account, a bank account or a wallet. Francs reach your Kraken account free of charge by SIC via Bank Frick; Kraken holds no Swiss licence (Kraken review).
Bity in Neuchâtel has refocused on a Private Trade Desk, charging up to 2.5% all-in, negotiated per deal. Relai Private sells bitcoin only, from 1.00% down to 0.20% above CHF 50 million. Mt Pelerin in Geneva advertises help with large purchases and cash-outs for private clients; for bank transfers, its commission falls with annual volume from 0.9% to 0.6% above CHF 10 million.
We could not confirm Coinbase Prime’s terms for Swiss clients. CEX.IO promotes an institutional offer at prime.cex.io, but minimums, settlement and Swiss availability were not retrievable. For Swiss private clients, CEX.IO is an exchange whose contracting entity is in Nevis, with no FINMA licence and no francs – not an OTC desk in the sense of this page.
Cantonal banks and big banks
For wealthy private clients, the existing bank is often the easiest route, because it already knows where the money comes from. Lucerne Cantonal Bank charges 1.00% on crypto purchases between CHF 100,000 and 990,000, with larger amounts on request; it does not serve US persons. PostFinance cuts its trading fee to 0.55% from USD 1 million and its portfolio fee to 0.05% a year from CHF 1 million (PostFinance crypto). Zurich Cantonal Bank has offered bitcoin and ether in e-banking since September 2024. UBS reportedly opened bitcoin and ether trading to selected private-banking clients in January 2026, though the bank has not confirmed it. For the full picture, see crypto banks in Switzerland.
How an OTC purchase works
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Onboarding
Identity check, beneficial-owner declaration and source-of-funds evidence. Allow time, especially for a new relationship.
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Pre-funding
Transfer CHF, EUR or USD from an account in your own name. Regulated providers generally refuse third-party payments.
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Request a quote
By phone, chat or platform you get a firm price for the whole amount, usually valid only briefly – or you ask for execution spread over hours.
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Trade and confirmation
Once you accept, the trade is executed. Keep the confirmation for your tax records.
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Delivery
The coins stay with the custodian or go to a wallet of yours that has been verified in advance. Start with a small test transfer.
Is your amount too small to interest an OTC desk? In most cases a regular account with limit orders will do.
Operating since 2013Group registered with FinCEN (US) and the FCA (UK)
Source of funds, KYC and the travel rule
Every supervised Swiss provider is bound by the Anti-Money Laundering Act. For large sums they need to know not just who you are but where the money comes from. Typical requests:
- Valid passport or ID and recent proof of address; your Swiss residence permit if you have moved here
- Declaration of beneficial ownership, plus a commercial register extract for a company
- Source of funds: salary certificate, tax assessment, sale contract for a company or property, inheritance certificate
- Bank statements showing the money’s path to the account in your name
- If selling crypto: purchase records, exchange exports, wallet addresses and an explanation of how you acquired the coins
- Proof that an external wallet belongs to you
That last point is distinctly Swiss. Since its Guidance 02/2019, FINMA has applied the Rule requiring sender and recipient details to accompany crypto transfers, as with bank transfers. without an exemption for private wallets: supervised institutions may only send crypto to, or receive it from, external wallets belonging to their own verified clients unless sender and recipient details can be transmitted. Expect to prove ownership of your wallet, for example with a signed message or a small test transaction. More in FINMA crypto regulation.
Custody for large holdings
There are three ways to hold the coins.
Bank custody. At a FINMA-licensed bank the coins sit in your securities account next to your other investments. Crypto is not a bank deposit, so deposit insurance does not apply. The DLT Act, in force since 1 August 2021, did however improve legal certainty in bankruptcy: crypto assets that can be attributed to a client at all times can be segregated from the bankrupt estate.
Specialised custodians. Bitcoin Suisse, for example, offers a crypto account and a vault solution. Here the provider’s status matters: an SRO member is not supervised the way a bank is.
Self-custody. With a hardware wallet you hold the keys yourself. For large sums a A wallet that needs several keys to approve a transaction, for example 2 of 3, so losing one key does not mean losing the coins. set-up often makes sense – two of three keys on devices from different makers, kept in separate places. Without documented access, the coins are lost to your heirs. Our crypto wallet guide compares devices, including the Swiss-made BitBox.
Tax on large crypto holdings
Holdings are subject to cantonal Annual cantonal tax on your net assets on 31 December – cryptocurrencies count. at their value on 31 December. The Federal Tax Administration’s price list gives about CHF 69,572 per bitcoin for the end of 2025, so 3 BTC meant declaring around CHF 208,716. If you moved to Switzerland during the year, your first Swiss return uses the year-end value too.
Capital gains on private assets are tax-free – as long as you are not treated as a professional trader. The tax authorities apply circular no. 36 by analogy. If all five criteria are met, they always assume private asset management:
- Assets sold were held for at least six months.
- Annual transaction volume is no more than five times the portfolio at the start of the year.
- Realised capital gains are below 50% of net income.
- No debt financing, or investment income exceeds interest on the debt.
- Derivatives are used only to hedge your own positions.
Missing a criterion does not automatically make you a trader; the case is then assessed individually. Two points are sensitive for OTC clients: frequent round trips of large amounts and Lombard loans against crypto, because the circular calls debt financing the strongest indicator of professional trading.
Two more points: according to the Federal Tax Administration, payment tokens such as bitcoin are not subject to securities transfer stamp duty, and private investors cannot deduct transaction costs. See our guides to crypto tax in Switzerland and declaring crypto on your tax return.
Crypto asset management in brief
Prefer to hand over a mandate? Independent asset managers have needed a FINMA licence since the Financial Institutions Act – check it before you sign a power of attorney. Bitcoin Suisse is shifting towards wealth management, and several banks include crypto as a building block in their mandates. When you later want to turn coins back into francs, see cashing out crypto in Switzerland.
This page is not investment or tax advice; for large amounts, talk to a tax adviser or your cantonal tax office before you act.
Crypto banks
PostFinance, ZKB, LUKB, Swissquote, Sygnum, AMINA: coins, fees and whether you can withdraw to your own wallet. Plus UBS, Raiffeisen and crypto-friendly banks.
Crypto tax
No capital gains tax for private investors, wealth tax on the 31 December value, income tax on staking: how Switzerland taxes crypto, explained for expats.
Crypto wallets
BitBox from Adliswil, Trezor from CHF 49, Ledger, Tangem from Zug: which crypto wallet suits whom, how to store your seed phrase, and the Swiss travel rule.
FINMA & regulation
Swiss crypto laws in plain English: who FINMA supervises, what bank, FinTech and SRO status mean for you, the strict travel rule and a five-minute provider check.
