Can I Buy Bitcoin with Swissquote?
Swissquote customers can buy Bitcoin without leaving the platform. Swissquote Bank Ltd holds a FINMA banking licence and began offering crypto trading in 2017, before any other Swiss bank. Its clients can buy, hold, stake and transfer 55 coins from the same account used for shares and a Swiss IBAN.
Crypto trades settle in dollars or euros, not francs. According to Swissquote's crypto FAQ, digital assets cannot be traded against CHF. Placing an order without an available USD or EUR balance creates a shortfall that accrues debit interest. Swiss investors must therefore convert francs at the bank's 0.95% rate or transfer euros into the account first.
The trading fee depends on volume. Customers with less than USD 6,000 in crypto trades over the previous 30 days pay 1% as either maker or taker. The maker rate does not reach 0.50% until monthly volume hits USD 600,000. Our first BTC/USD purchase incurred the 1% fee plus currency conversion. An equivalent order on Kraken Pro cost 0.80% after a free CHF deposit, with no conversion required.
How to Buy Crypto with Swissquote
The lowest-cost option is to send francs from Swissquote to Kraken and execute the trade there. Swissquote does not charge for CHF payments to Liechtenstein, where Kraken uses Bank Frick and the SIC network. The funds can arrive as francs on the same day without being converted at either end.
Steps to buy crypto with Swissquote:
- Create and verify a Kraken account: Register at Kraken and complete identity checks using a Swiss passport or ID card. Bank Frick requires both accounts to have the same legal name, so enter it exactly as it appears on your Swissquote account.
- Copy the CHF deposit details: Open Funding in Kraken, select CHF and choose SIC (Bank Frick). Record the IBAN, beneficiary name and reference containing your public account ID, which starts with AA. Omitting this reference is the most common reason for a deposit being held.
- Send the payment from Swissquote: Go to Payments & Transfers in eBanking and create a payment from your CHF sub-account. CHF transfers within Switzerland and Liechtenstein are free. SIC settles in real time from 07:00 to 15:00 UTC on banking days. Sending francs to a euro-denominated address results in conversion at Bank Frick's rate.
- Place a limit order on Kraken Pro: After the deposit clears, open BTC/CHF or ETH/CHF and place a limit order near the current market price. Entry-level fees on Kraken Pro are 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker. They fall to 0.30% and 0.60% once 30-day volume exceeds USD 2,500.
- Move the coins or the cash out: Withdrawing CHF to Swissquote costs 1 CHF and takes the same day. Crypto can be sent to a personal wallet or deposited into Swissquote because Kraken is included on its exchange whitelist.
In our test, a CHF payment sent from Swissquote in the middle of the morning was available to trade on Kraken before lunch. Neither side charged a transfer fee.
Buying Crypto Directly on Swissquote
Swissquote's in-app product is better suited to customers who value having one Swiss bank statement over saving a few tenths of a percent. It makes the most sense for coins intended to be held for years.
- Fund a dollar or euro balance: Send euros by SEPA, which Swissquote receives for free, or convert francs within the platform at 0.95%. If you trade before the funds arrive, the resulting negative balance accrues debit interest.
- Check your fee tier: Open Crypto Hub on the web or select the information icon on the mobile order screen. This shows your current tier and the volume required to reach the next one. Accounts without any crypto trades during the past 30 days begin at Standard I.
- Place the order on SQX: SQX supports limit, market, stop and stop-limit orders, with instant settlement. From Standard II onward, resting limit orders qualify for lower maker fees than market orders.
- Stake if you want yield: Ethereum, Polkadot and Solana are available for staking through Crypto Hub. Swissquote retains 20% of the rewards.
- Withdraw to your own wallet: Add the destination to the whitelist under Crypto transfers before withdrawing. Native-chain withdrawals cost USD 10, while Ethereum-network tokens cost USD 15. Addresses belonging to exchanges are rejected.
Fees, Tax and Transfer Limits for Swissquote Customers
Swissquote applies currency conversion and trading fees, followed by a quarterly custody charge on crypto holdings. Its main cost advantage is account funding, not trade execution.
Swissquote costs and limits
- Trading fees: Swissquote uses a dynamic maker and taker schedule based on 30-day volume. Standard I costs 1% in either direction. Standard II, reached at USD 6,000, charges 0.90% maker and 0.95% taker. Premium I at USD 25,000 costs 0.80% and 0.90%, while the lowest PRO II tier at USD 60 million charges 0.08% and 0.18%.
- Currency conversion: Crypto pairs are available only in USD or EUR. The standard online rate for converting CHF into either currency is 0.95%.
- Custody fee: Swissquote charges custody quarterly across all assets, including crypto. It starts at CHF 20 per quarter for accounts below CHF 50,000 and rises to CHF 50 above CHF 150,000, plus 8.1% VAT.
- Wallet transfers: Crypto deposits worth at least USD 500 are free. Smaller deposits cost USD 10. Withdrawals are USD 10 on native chains or USD 15 for Ethereum-network tokens such as USDT and USDC.
- Exchange transfers: Swissquote accepts incoming coins only from Bitpanda, Bitstamp, Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken and Revolut. Customers must provide screenshots of the sending transaction. Withdrawals to any exchange are prohibited.
- Staking: Swissquote keeps 20% of staking rewards earned from ETH, DOT and SOL.
- Funding the account: Bank transfers into Swissquote are free, while card deposits cost 1.9%.
- Outgoing payments: CHF and EUR payments to Switzerland and Liechtenstein are free. SEPA transfers cost 2 EUR, while express same-day execution after the cut-off costs 5 CHF.
- Deposit protection: Swissquote cash balances are protected by esisuisse up to CHF 100,000 per client. Crypto is segregated from the bank's assets under Swiss law but is not covered by the scheme.
Kraken fees
- CHF deposit: SIC deposits through Bank Frick are free when sent from a Swiss or Liechtenstein bank. The minimum is 1 CHF, and funds are credited the same day. EUR deposits through SEPA are also free.
- Trading: Entry-level Kraken Pro fees are 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker, with lower rates available based on volume or assets held. The simple Buy screen adds a 1% fee plus a spread, so Kraken Pro is the cheaper option.
- CHF withdrawal: SIC withdrawals cost 1 CHF, have a 2 CHF minimum and arrive the same day. EUR withdrawals by SEPA cost 1 EUR.
- Crypto withdrawal: Fees vary by asset and network. The amount appears before confirmation.
Swiss tax on crypto
- No capital gains tax: Private investors generally pay no tax on crypto sale profits when their activity remains within the Federal Tax Administration's private wealth management practice. Corresponding losses cannot be deducted.
- Wealth tax: Crypto holdings are included in cantonal wealth tax at their value on 31 December, based on the FTA's published year-end rates.
- Income tax: Staking rewards are taxable as income at their franc value when received. This includes Swissquote payouts from ETH, DOT and SOL.
- Professional trader risk: Gains may be reclassified as taxable self-employment income when activity involves frequent trading or leverage. Holding periods below six months and annual turnover exceeding five times the portfolio are also relevant factors.
- CARF: The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework entered Swiss law on 1 January. However, the Federal Council suspended its crypto provisions for this year, meaning automatic exchange with 74 partner countries will begin in 2027 at the earliest.
Buying CHF 5,000 of Bitcoin through Swissquote costs about CHF 47.50 for currency conversion and CHF 50 in Standard I trading fees, before custody charges. Kraken Pro charges nothing to fund the account. The same purchase costs CHF 40 as a taker or CHF 20 as a maker.
Best Exchanges for Swissquote Customers
CHF payments from Swissquote to Liechtenstein are free. The relevant comparison is therefore whether an exchange accepts francs without conversion and how much it charges after the deposit arrives. Kraken, SwissBorg and Bitpanda support CHF bank transfers. Bybit provides access to franc deposits through zen.com.
For stablecoins, see our guide to buying USDT in Switzerland. Swissquote lists both USDT and USDC, but only against dollars.
Swissquote Cryptocurrency Policy
Swissquote considers crypto a core banking product rather than a fraud risk. In 2017, it became the first Swiss bank to launch Bitcoin trading. The bank later introduced SQX, its central order book, in October 2022. It also sells crypto through Yuh, the neobank it took full control of in July 2025. Customers can spend crypto using a Swissquote debit card, stake three assets and transfer coins between the platform and wallets they control.
Its banking policy is similarly open. Swissquote publishes no crypto-specific limit for payments to exchanges, and none of our Kraken transfers prompted a questionnaire about their purpose. Restrictions apply at the crypto wallet level. Coins cannot be sent to exchanges, while incoming transfers are limited to six approved platforms. Swissquote does not explain this policy, although it aligns with FINMA's travel rule requiring sender and recipient information for every crypto transfer.
Crypto has become a smaller source of income for the bank. Net crypto income remained flat at CHF 85.7 million in 2025. It then fell 66% during the first half of this year as prices declined. Swissquote also reduced the value of its crypto inventory by CHF 5 million. The bank lowered its guidance and secured a MiCA licence to continue serving European crypto clients.
Switzerland's 2021 DLT Act gives tokens legal standing, while FINMA supervises Swissquote. Cantonal tax authorities are due to begin receiving CARF data from 2027. Our guide to the best crypto exchanges in Switzerland ranks the platforms accessible through a Swissquote payment.
About Swissquote
Marc Bürki and Paolo Buzzi founded Swissquote in Gland, on Lake Geneva, in 1996. It began as a financial data website before developing into Switzerland's largest online bank. Swissquote Group Holding Ltd trades on the SIX Swiss Exchange under SQN. Its operating entity, Swissquote Bank Ltd, is authorised by FINMA as a bank and securities firm.
As of 30 June, the group held a record CHF 96.3 billion in client assets across 1,220,818 accounts. That total included 423,409 Yuh accounts. Swissquote employed 1,511 people and offered stocks and ETFs on more than 60 exchanges, along with funds, bonds, options, forex and CFDs. Its other products include robo-advisory, mortgages, savings accounts, debit cards and a multi-currency Swiss IBAN. International operations include Swissquote Bank Europe in Luxembourg and offices spanning London to Singapore.
Securities and crypto held in custody remain outside the bank's bankruptcy estate. Other Swiss institutions also provide retail crypto trading. Our PostFinance guide examines the state-owned bank's in-app service, while Swiss customers using Revolut can find its policy in the same series.
Bottom Line
Swissquote lets investors keep crypto and shares on one statement at a FINMA-supervised bank, something offshore exchanges cannot offer. The convenience comes with a USD or EUR conversion, a 1% starting trading fee and quarterly custody charges. Those costs may be reasonable for coins purchased once and held. They are expensive for monthly buyers or active traders.
We recommend Kraken for funds transferred out of Swissquote. CHF payments to its Bank Frick account are free at both ends, generally settle the same day and remain denominated in francs for trading against Bitcoin or Ether. Start with a small transfer to confirm that the account names match.
Use Kraken Pro instead of the Buy screen, and retain every trade confirmation because cantonal wealth tax reporting requires year-end balances whether or not CARF reporting has begun.
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