Gold Rush: Swiss Exchange Goes Crypto, Binance Targets USD 1bn Profit

The world of crypto exchanges is sending at least two bullish news: Switzerland is taking one more step further in terms of crypto adoption, while the major crypto exchange Binance is estimating up to USD 1 billion net profit this year.

The leading Swiss stock exchange, SIX, has announced plans for a “new market infrastructure” - effectively a cryptocurrency exchange under the same regulations and level of oversight as SIX itself, regulated by Finma, the Swiss financial supervisor, according to the Financial Times.

The platform will, aside from trading, also offer integrated post-transaction services such as deal settlement and asset custody, bringing it closer to a traditional stock exchange. It was announced on Friday that the first services are set for release in the first half of 2019.

Jos Dijsselhof, SIX chief executive, said: “For us it is abundantly clear that much of what is going on in the digital space is here to stay and will define the future of our industry. The financial industry now needs to bridge the gap between traditional financial services and digital communities.”

Meanwhile, Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange with fees by 24-hour trading volume, already enjoys being a bridge for "digital communities", as it expects a net profit of USD 500 million to USD 1 billion in 2018. According to Bloomberg, Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of the exchange, said in an interview that they have an average daily turnover of roughly USD 1.5 billion and 10 million users. Zhao has previously said that Binance had 2 million users at the start of the year. The exchange was started in July 2017 and shot to the top within months.

SIX is not the only stock exchange interested in crypto. In April, Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq said that “Certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time.” Meanwhile, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange has been reportedly working on an online trading platform for large investors to buy and hold Bitcoin. In addition, German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse, one of the world's largest trading centres for securities, is “deep at work” on evaluating whether to offer Bitcoin futures and other cryptocurrency-related services.