Crypto-friendly Bank Frick now processes payments via USDC stablecoin, says it is faster than SWIFT
Bank Frick, the Liechtenstein-based crypto-friendly bank, has added support for a stablecoin for the first time.
The bank now allows its clients to trade and custody the USDC stablecoin, as well as enables them to process USD payments via the stablecoin.
"With the addition of USDC, we enable our customers to process USD payments quickly and token-based. Compared to the classic SWIFT procedure, the processing time is significantly reduced," said Stefan Rauti, head of blockchain banking at Bank Frick.
The USDC stablecoin is backed by CENTRE — a consortium co-founded by Coinbase and Circle. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, said the firm expects more “regulated” banks to add support for USDC since it is “becoming [a] significant alternative rail to value transfer.”
Bank Frick now supports a total of ten crypto assets - Bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), litecoin (LTC), XRP, ether (ETH), ether classic (ETC), NEM (XEM), Qtum (QTUM), Stellar Lumens (XLM) and USD Coin (USDC). The bank said it keeps clients’ crypto funds in “cold” or offline wallets.
Founded in 1998, Bank Frick has been a family-run business. It is co-owned by the Kuno Frick Family Foundation (65% stake) and Nasdaq-listed fintech group Net1 (35% stake). The bank ventured into the crypto space in 2018. Last year, it also set up two blockchain subsidiaries - Distributed Ventures AG, an incubator and accelerator program, and The DLT Markets AG, a digital assets platform for institutional investors.
