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“The protected, safe, and secure storage of digital assets has become a top priority for clients nowadays.”

Even if the ancient building above him is vulnerable to the ravages of time, the crypto crypt beneath his feet will persist. Perhaps that’s symbolic, too.

Vaults don’t only grant clients practical and symbolic peace of mind, though. They’re also status markers. SEBA’s high-net-worths (HNWs) expect the red carpet treatment from their account managers and cast iron shielding of their assets.

“We’re trying to be more persona-centric in our offering,” says Schütz. “One thing which we identified is that crypto-wealthy, crypto-savvy people have high demands, so we have to come up with a very bespoke, very personalised service.

“That’s what we have built our Platinum offering, with a platinum credit card, with limits that clients can define with us. We have clients with a limit of half a million, and we can provide that. We also have a premium desk for clients to contact us at any point using a secure, safe, and convenient communication channel – via WhatsApp, via Telegram, or via WeChat – and a concierge service.”

SEBA opened its first overseas office in Abu Dhabi in February and now has clients in two dozen countries spread across five continents. But it’s not just wealthy private investors that SEBA serves: it provides services for asset managers, pension funds, companies and – increasingly – banks, too.

“Being very close to the topic, having the expertise, knowing how we can do forensic checks on a wallet, is a big asset that we can bring to traditional banks,” says Schütz. “That is quite important for us, because it allows wealth managers to provide their clients with a digital asset offering. They rely on our compliance knowledge – and in a Swiss-regulated environment, we always have to follow the rules. That gives them the comfort to enter the space.

“We provide a sophisticated expert trading system, and direct access into our trading room. Our trading room is one of the key elements of our offering. We have a broad range of high-quality liquidity providers, but we act as a principal trader, so we are always the counterparty vis-à-vis the client. That way, we are also eliminating counterparty risks for them.”

With banks warier than ever about their exposure to digital assets, SEBA Bank’s the carve-up of assets following the fall of Silicon Valley Bank and others in the US.

In the last few months, there have been a slew of banks who have withdrawn or limited payments to and from crypto platforms, while others have frozen crypto firms' accounts, leading to what some have called a crypto banking crisis.

SEBA’s newest product is a B2B service for fiat-focussed banks who possibly want to keep their crypto offer at arm’s length.

“Last year was a landmark year for the digital assets industry,” says Schütz. “Maybe not in the most positive manner, but it showed which direction it will go in. Looking back at 2008, what was the answer to the crash? Regulation. In the digital assets world, regulation will step in, too.

“Ultimately, the regulatory piece will come together with decentralisation and the brilliant things that have been developed in this new blockchain world regulated status is both a confidence-builder and a source of knowledge for banks looking to tentatively explore what is increasingly looking, even to them, like the future of finance.

“We’ve just onboarded a new banking partner to provide digital assets to its clients, and it’s just asked us to educate 300 of its relationship managers on digital assets,” adds Schütz. “We know how to handle risks, and we know how to make sure we can onboard high-risk clients.”

Regular banks began pumping the brakes on crypto activity following last year’s collapses. And their ongoing nervousness was apparent this year during as well as the traditional world. That’s the direction: more regulation, but also developing ideas in a more scalable and more mature manner.”

Will this better-regulated future finally bestow legitimacy on the market and encourage banks to engage more confidently with digital asset classes? SEBA Bank might be the first to know.

“There are a lot of people that have not yet invested, and have not gone into this market, and so we believe there is also huge potential still to catch up,” says Schütz.

It will be interesting to see if the world’s financial centres, glittering with skyscrapers and abuzz with trading floor chatter, can keep up with little, lakeside Zug.

Appearances can be deceptive: Lake Zug’s sedate façade hides a hive of crypto activity