Bank Frick

Bank Frick is a fully licensed, family-owned private bank headquartered in Balzers, Liechtenstein, and one of the few regulated financial institutions in the world to have built crypto-asset services directly into its core offering rather than treating them as an add-on. Founded in 1998 by Kuno Frick Sr. — initially operating out of a family garage — the bank has remained under Kuno Frick Family Foundation ownership through a series of strategic decisions, including the repurchase of a 30% stake from outside investor Net1 in 2016–2017 to restore full family control. Today it serves financial intermediaries, fintech companies, asset managers, and professional clients who need institutional-grade banking infrastructure with native access to digital assets.

The bank's relationship with blockchain began in earnest in 2018, when it became the first bank in Europe to offer professional trading and secure custody of leading cryptocurrencies within a regulated banking environment. That milestone was not a product launch so much as a structural commitment: Bank Frick integrated crypto custody into the same compliance and security framework governing all client assets, treating digital holdings with the same fiduciary rigor applied to traditional instruments. By 2021 the bank had accumulated more than $1 billion in crypto assets under management. By the first half of 2025, total AUM had grown to CHF 5.03 billion.

Solana Support and Staking

Bank Frick added Solana (SOL) to its supported asset list at the end of 2023, alongside Polygon, as part of a broader expansion that also brought in Avalanche, Chainlink, NEAR Protocol, and Cosmos. The move followed the launch of staking-as-a-service in spring 2023, which the bank has built out to cover seven Proof of Stake networks. Clients can now earn staking rewards on Solana alongside Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, Cosmos, Polygon, and Tezos — all within the regulated custodial environment, without moving assets to a third-party platform.

The bank's staking service is positioned for institutional clients who need yield generation from Proof of Stake participation but cannot accept the operational or counterparty risks that come with self-custody or unregulated staking providers. Bank Frick handles the validator infrastructure and security, while clients retain exposure to native staking rewards. The bank's own description of the offering emphasizes fund security as the primary consideration, with income generation as a secondary benefit.

Across all asset classes, Bank Frick now supports 16 cryptocurrencies for trading and custody: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche, Polygon, Tezos, Chainlink, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, XRP, Stellar, NEAR Protocol, and USD Coin. Token projects can also request evaluation for ERC-20, ERC-721, FA1.2, FA2, and other standard token formats.

Banking Infrastructure for Digital Asset Firms

Beyond custody and staking, Bank Frick's proposition for blockchain-native businesses rests on a set of banking services that are difficult to source elsewhere in Europe. The bank provides business accounts in CHF, EUR, USD, and GBP, including incorporation accounts designed specifically for companies building in blockchain. Its virtual IBAN (vIBAN) service allows high-volume fintech and payment service providers to automate payment routing and allocation at scale — a feature that has attracted a client base of crypto exchanges, payment processors, and digital asset intermediaries.

The xPULSE service provides near-round-the-clock fiat settlement within the Bank Frick network, operating 23 hours a day, seven days a week, which addresses one of the persistent friction points for crypto businesses that need fiat liquidity during periods when traditional interbank rails are closed. Bank Frick has also expanded into real-time payments via SEPA and SIC integrations, offering 24/7 instant payment capability for qualifying transactions.

For clients needing institutional-grade crypto trading execution, the bank provides sponsored access to RULEMATCH, a high-performance cryptocurrency exchange, allowing clients to trade through a fully regulated banking counterpart without leaving the Bank Frick relationship. This structure keeps the trading activity within a supervised framework while giving clients access to venue-level execution speeds and liquidity.

Regulatory Standing

Bank Frick operates under a full banking license from the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA) and benefits from EEA passporting, which allows it to serve clients across EU and EEA member states under its home-country authorization. In January 2026 it received MiCAR authorization, aligning it with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation that came into full effect for crypto asset service providers. The bank achieved ISO 27001 certification in 2024, formalizing its information security management standards. In 2024 it was also authorized by SIX as a custodian for crypto assets under Swiss regulatory requirements, expanding its operational footprint.

The bank is part of the early partner group for the Liechtenstein Trusted Infrastructure Network (LTIN), a state-backed blockchain initiative that also includes Bitcoin Suisse and Zilliqa, aimed at building European-sovereign transaction, validation, and identity infrastructure.

Scale and Direction

Bank Frick crossed 300 employees in 2025 and generated a net profit of CHF 9.2 million for the year, before reporting CHF 4.3 million in profit for the first half of 2026. The bank opened its first branch outside Europe — in the Dubai International Financial Centre — in 2025, targeting international digital asset businesses and family offices seeking a Liechtenstein-regulated banking partner with a physical presence in the Gulf. A new headquarters in Unterbendern is planned for 2031.

Management announced in early 2026 that it is evaluating one or more long-term strategic investors, potentially including a majority stake transaction, to fund the next phase of growth for its digital B2B banking platform. The bank has also expanded its tokenization capabilities, having issued the first tokenized fund shares in 2021 and continuing to evaluate tokenization of real estate, art, and commodities for institutional clients.

For Solana ecosystem participants — particularly custodians, exchanges, payment infrastructure providers, and asset managers who need a fully regulated European banking partner — Bank Frick represents one of the few institutions in the world that combines a traditional banking license, institutional crypto custody, and native Solana staking support under a single regulated roof.