Bank Frick generated a net profit of CHF 7.2 million in the first half of 2023 and thus built on the success of the prior financial year. The marked increase in profit, coupled with solid utilisation and good capitalisation, provides us with encouragement for the second half of the year. We therefore anticipate an annual profit in the region of CHF 13 million for 2023.
SEC pushes back against Coinbase's claim of no regulatory jurisdiction, stating the crypto exchange knowingly violated securities laws. Meanwhile, Gemini, owned by the Winklevoss twins, files a lawsuit against Digital Currency Group and CEO Barry Silbert alleging fraud and deception following the collapse of a lending venture. The Bank for International Settlements survey reveals that 93% of central banks are working on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) which are seen as potential geopolitical policy tools and a challenge to the dollar's dominance. The race for a Bitcoin ETF intensifies, with BlackRock refiling its application featuring Coinbase as the market surveillance partner, as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust's discount to net asset value narrows, potentially indicating the transformation into a proper ETF.
Bank Frick’s new payment service enables prompt payment transactions in the Bank Frick network – even outside of cut-off and business hours. Payments within the Bank Frick network and within the same currency can be made in all major fiat currencies seven days a week.
BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin ETF with the SEC, inspiring similar applications from firms like WisdomTree, Invesco, and Fidelity, and boosting Bitcoin's value. Traditional finance institutions such as Fidelity and Nasdaq are showing increased interest in crypto, with moves towards exchange and custody services. The defunct crypto exchange FTX, under new CEO John Ray III, is planning a potential revival after recovering significant assets. Meanwhile, the IMF is developing a global CBDC platform for cross-border transactions and DAI, a major stablecoin, is diversifying its backing from USDC to include real-world assets.
SWIFT has partnered with Chainlink to experiment with leveraging its infrastructure for transferring tokenized value across blockchain networks. The trials will address interoperability, regulatory challenges, and operational drawbacks for financial institutions in a blockchain environment. Chainlink will provide connectivity between private and public blockchains. SWIFT's findings will be published later this year.
The cryptocurrencies Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) are now available for Staking in a fully regulated environment. Customers can generate additional income with their digital assets through this service.
We would like to point out that there is no connection between Bank Frick and TCM Investments, Floor 29, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5AA, United Kingdom. The operators of the domain ‘tcminvestments[dot]com‘ are making unlawful use of the name and logo of Bank Frick.
China is striving for advancement in Internet 3.0 technologies, with Beijing's white paper outlining plans to invest in the development of the metaverse and Web3 tech such as non-fungible tokens, but not cryptocurrencies due to the country's previous ban. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is launching its new crypto trading regulations, allowing retail investors to participate from June 1, 2023, with exchanges like Huobi Hong Kong beginning to offer spot trading to retail and institutional clients. Furthermore, the Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force is launching a metaverse platform, 'CyberDefender', to educate the public about potential threats and crime prevention in the metaverse.
A new Bitcoin “token standard” called BRC-20 is the hottest thing right now in the crypto space. It was introduced in March 2023 by a pseudonymous person called Domo. Bitcoin Request for Comment 20 (BRC-20) is an experiment that brings fungible tokens to the Bitcoin blockchain using the Ordinals protocol. Ordinals rely on ordinal theory, enabling the identification and tracking of individual satoshis within Bitcoin's existing supply, while also allowing them to be inscribed (associated) with data. Through this technique, satoshis (sats) are given ordinal numbers starting with zero. Anyone can add a script file to a sat to create and transfer a BRC-20 token on the Bitcoin blockchain. BRC-20 tokens are created using three functions: deploy, mint, and transfer.
It is official now: The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), legislation that will guide the crypto sector in all 27 European Union member states. 517 parliament members voted for it, while 38 voted against it. This approval makes Europe the first continent with comprehensive rules for cryptocurrencies. Also, it means that all EU member states will have unified crypto regulations. So, if a crypto business is approved in one EU member country, it could easily expand operations to another member state. The EU’s milestone was lauded by Binance as well as Kraken and Coinbase.
Founded in 1998 by Kuno Frick, Bank Frick continues to be a family-run business. With the Frick family as the owners, the responsibilities are clear. This also guarantees the prudent further development of the institute.
We were the first bank in Europe to enable the trading and secure custody of crypto assets in the regulated environment. Every day, we think about which innovations we could provide to take you further: loan securitisations on the blockchain, tokenised funds or block orders in online banking.
When it comes to assets, stability and security are what counts. These are offered by Bank Frick as well as by our homeland: Liechtenstein sets itself apart through its solid surpluses, the strong Swiss franc as the national currency and its political stability.
Do you want to grow with our bank? We offer excellent prospects for curious students, motivated new starters, ambitious graduates and experienced specialists and managers.
