SwissBorg: Lausanne roots, French contract

The short verdict

SwissBorg suits you if you want one app with a wide choice of coins – about 400 according to its asset list, including ether, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin and USDT – and a flat 0.99% per trade sounds fair. If you still keep a euro account from a previous posting or get paid partly in EUR, you can fund by SEPA, which is the cheapest route. There is also a virtual Mastercard that Swiss residents hold in Swiss francs, which few other providers offer.

It suits you less if you want to fund in francs with an ordinary domestic transfer: that only works by SWIFT, to a French company. If you specifically want a Swiss counterparty or a bank, look at Swissquote instead, or at Relai if you only want bitcoin delivered straight to your own wallet. And for larger amounts, an order-book exchange such as Kraken usually costs less than 0.99% per trade.

Who is behind it – and who you actually sign with

The brand comes from Lausanne: SBorg SA, founded in 2017, runs the websites. As a Swiss resident, though, you do not contract with it. Under clause 2.1.1 of the app terms of use, anyone living in the EEA, Switzerland or the United Kingdom contracts with BlockNodes SAS, based in Paris. Everyone else is served by Dharma Ltd in the Seychelles.

Since 5 March 2026, BlockNodes has been authorised by the French financial markets authority (AMF) as a MiCA service provider (CASP)Crypto-Asset Service Provider: a crypto firm authorised under the EU’s MiCA regulation, valid across the whole EEA., number A2026-011. The authorisation also appears in the register kept by ESMA, the EU securities regulator. That is real supervision, with capital, organisational and custody requirements. Among other things, MiCA requires a provider to protect clients’ ownership of their crypto-assets, including in insolvency.

But it also means this: Switzerland is not in the EU, an AMF authorisation is not a Swiss stamp of approval, and FINMA does not supervise BlockNodes. We could not confirm in any register whether SBorg SA belongs to a Swiss self-regulatory organisation; it would not affect your contract anyway. In a dispute, you would be dealing with a French company. How a FINMA licence, an SRO membership and an EU licence differ is explained in our guide to crypto regulation in Switzerland.

SwissBorg holds your coins for you; the app is not a wallet whose keys you control. There is no deposit protection as there would be for a bank account. If you hold larger amounts for the long term, move them to your own wallet; our guide to crypto wallets in Switzerland helps you choose.

Getting francs in and out

This is the main catch. According to the help article “Deposit in CHF”, SWIFTThe international interbank payment network. Slower than Switzerland’s domestic SIC system and, depending on the bank, charged to sender and recipient. is the only option for CHF deposits. Enter “BlockNodes SAS” as the beneficiary – explicitly not your own name – and send from an account in your name. SwissBorg charges nothing for bank transfers, but your bank may apply its cross-border payment fee. Funds take one to five business days to arrive, says SwissBorg.

Euros by SEPA are also free on BlockNodes’ side. Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay are expensive: Swiss residents fall under the “International” rate, which is 4.5% at Standard rank, 4.25% at Bronze, 4% at Silver and Gold and 3.75% from Platinum up. The minimum fee is EUR 5 (EUR 3 from Silver) and the minimum deposit EUR 10. EEA customers pay 2.25% down to 1.5% for the same thing. SwissBorg does not accept TWINT; the few routes that do exist are covered in buying crypto with TWINT.

Cashing out is cheaper: CHF withdrawals cost 0.10%, with a minimum of CHF 5 (so up to CHF 5,000 you pay the minimum) and a maximum of CHF 110. Sending coins to your own wallet costs the network fee plus 0.1%, at least EUR 1.61 for bitcoin and ether.

Worked example: CHF 1,000 of bitcoin

By SWIFT, BlockNodes charges nothing, which leaves the exchange fee: 0.99% of CHF 1,000 is CHF 9.90, so you receive bitcoin worth CHF 990.10. Add whatever your bank charges for the SWIFT payment, which SwissBorg does not control.

By card at Standard rank, 4.5% goes first: CHF 45. On the remaining CHF 955, the trade costs 0.99%, or CHF 9.45. You receive bitcoin worth CHF 945.55 and pay CHF 54.45 in total, about 5.4%. The app shows before you confirm whether the card fee is deducted from the amount or added on top.

Fees and spreads in detail

The reference is SwissBorg's current price list (Pricing Policy). For a normal exchange it states 0.99% at every rank, from Standard to Elite; the same applies to the Auto-Invest savings plan. SwissBorg’s homepage still advertises fees “from 1.49% down to 0.25% depending on Premium tier”. In the price list, exactly that range applies to Crypto Bundles, its themed baskets – not to buying a single coin.

On top, the price list mentions possible network and third-party exchange fees. The quoted price may also contain a spreadThe gap between the buy and sell price. It is built into the quote and rarely shown separately.; the card rulebook refers to a “market-liquidity adjustment”. The total appears on the preview screen before you buy.

As a discount, SwissBorg pays cashbackA refund of part of the fee, here in SwissBorg’s own BORG token, which stays locked for a period. in BORG: 5% of the exchange fee at Standard rank, 50% at Gold, 90% at Elite and up to 99% for the top ten Elite users. SwissBorg itself says the cashback “is not guaranteed”. Higher ranks are tied to the in-house token, so you trade a fee discount for exposure to a single, volatile token.

On CHF 1,000: Kraken Pro charges CHF 8 as a taker or CHF 4 as a maker, Swissquote CHF 10 at its entry tier and Bitpanda a CHF 9.90 premium on bitcoin. At CHF 9.90, SwissBorg sits mid-table – the funding route is what makes the difference.

Coins, Earn and the card

The asset list has about 400 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Dogecoin and USDT. Tether is worth noting since Revolut removed it for Swiss customers in 2026; see buying USDT in Switzerland. Pi Network is not listed – where Swiss residents can trade Pi is covered on our Pi coin page.

Under the name Earn, SwissBorg offers yield programmes, advertised on its homepage at “up to 15% per year”. According to the price list there are no entry or exit fees, but a performance fee of 15% of rewards for most strategies plus a service fee of 50% at Standard rank, which only drops to zero from Platinum. We could not confirm that every Earn strategy is open to Swiss residents: the country list does not break down features by country, so check in the app. How rewards from stakingLocking coins to help run a blockchain in return for rewards. Taxable as income in Switzerland. and similar programmes are taxed is explained in crypto staking in Switzerland.

According to its rulebook, the SwissBorg Card is available to Swiss residents with Swiss francs as the base currency, which cannot be changed later. The issuer is UAB Monavate in Lithuania. For now the Mastercard is virtual only (Apple Pay, Google Pay, online); a physical card is planned for a fee. No ATM withdrawals. Every payment is an exchange at 0.99%, with BORG cashback by rank. How it compares with other cards is covered in crypto cards in Switzerland.

Taxes: what SwissBorg gives you

We found no Swiss electronic tax statement of the kind banks issue. In the app you can download an account statement for any date range; tax-software providers describe it as an Excel file. What matters most for your return is your balance on 31 December: it goes in the securities list, valued at the rate in the federal tax administration’s price list or, if a coin is missing there, at market price, and is subject to wealth tax.

Capital gains are tax-free for private investors, but Earn rewards are income at their CHF value when received. Every SwissBorg Card payment is also, for tax purposes, a sale of crypto: worth recording, though the gain stays tax-free for a private investor. Where each figure goes on the form is explained in declaring crypto on your tax return.

Pros and cons

Opening an account from Switzerland

1. 1

   Download the app and sign up

   Install SwissBorg and confirm your email and mobile number. Give Switzerland as your country of residence – it determines your counterparty and the CHF card currency.

2. 2

   Verify your identity

   Record an official photo ID in the app. Level 2, needed for the card for example, also requires a verified proof of address.

3. 3

   Send francs by SWIFT

   In the app choose Deposit, Bank transfer and CHF, then copy the SWIFT details. Beneficiary: “BlockNodes SAS”; send the payment in CHF.

4. 4

   Buy

   Pick the coin and amount, then check the fee and rate on the preview screen.

5. 5

   Optional: move to your own wallet

   Larger amounts to a personal wallet: network fee plus 0.1%, at least EUR 1.61 for bitcoin.

For the KYCKnow Your Customer: the identity check financial providers are legally required to carry out. check you need valid ID and proof of address. For larger deposits SwissBorg may ask where the money comes from, for example a salary certificate or bank statement.

Alternatives to SwissBorg

To fund in francs without SWIFT, Kraken takes SIC transfers via Bank Frick, free from CHF 1, although Swiss residents contract with a British Virgin Islands company there. Swissquote is a FINMA-licensed bank with a CHF account but charges 1% per trade at its entry tier. Vienna-based Bitpanda accepts francs from CHF 10. For bitcoin only, held in your own wallet: Relai or Pocket. The full overview is in our comparison of crypto apps in Switzerland.