Swiss-Based Amina Bank Talks With Banking Exchange at Money 20/20

Myles Harrison, Chief Product Officer of AMINA Bank, speaks about growth of the bank

AMINA has been in business since 2019. Tell us about your growth story over the last 6 years.

AMINA was founded in 2018 and received our Swiss banking license from FINMA in August 2019, making AMINA one of the first banks in the world purpose-built for crypto. That regulatory foundation enabled us to build bank-grade infrastructure, operations, and rigour from day one.

Our growth reflects regulatory developments and institutional adoption maturing globally. In 2024, we achieved 69% revenue growth, reaching $4.2 billion in AUM with zero defaults in our lending book over five years. We've expanded to Abu Dhabi (2022), Hong Kong (2023), and secured our MiCA license in Austria (2025), positioning us to passport into 30+ European markets.

The strategy has always been quality of our product offering over volume, providing our professional investor clients crypto innovation and expertise with banking security and compliance. Our product shelf, which includes banking, trading, custody, staking, investments and lending which, in additional to private individuals and corporates are available and being used by our B2B2C partners including some of Europe's largest private banks.

Contrast the US banking industry with the Swiss and other markets. Why is it difficult for a US bank to execute on what you do and to offer high net worth customers the same services you do.

FINMA gave Switzerland a first-mover advantage by solidifying comprehensive blockchain regulations long before most countries, giving institutions years to build compliant infrastructure. In the past year, the US has seen an acceleration with the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts, which has invigorated the global crypto industry and, on the surface, appears to be driving additional adoption.

However, replicating specialized crypto banking requires more than regulatory clarity. US banks face three structural challenges: 24/7 operational requirements that traditional banking systems weren't built for, crypto-based product depth and risk management beyond custody and blockchain expertise including for ensuring robust compliance.

Building this infrastructure takes years of specialized investment, which is why partnership models often make strategic sense.

Tell us about your typical business client and why and how a business uses your services. Then tell us about your individual clients. It looks like you would attract a similar group as a private bank.

We serve three segments: high-net-worth individuals, corporates (including institutional investors) and regulated financial institutions. We also differentiate our client base between crypto-native pioneers and traditional investors seeking digital asset exposure through bank-grade infrastructure.

Clients appreciate AMINA for products that make crypto banking simple, backed by trust and security. Clients come to us for products like discretionary mandates, structured products, derivatives, and crypto-collateralized lending. Our B2B2C clients, such as private banks, partner with us, maintaining their client relationships while we provide infrastructure like crypto custody, trading, and risk management.

Do you see these services breaking through into the mainstream?

We're currently in the middle of a breakthrough into mainstream finance. Bitcoin ETFs reached $130 billion in AUM, two-thirds of all gold ETF assets. Corporate treasuries now hold over 1 million Bitcoin, up 43% year-over-year. Global crypto users expanded from 420 million to 560 million in 2024.

Markets of significant financial importance like the US, EU, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi are all implementing comprehensive frameworks. Governments respond to systemic importance and recent regulatory trajectory confirms its move into the mainstream.

The crypto industry is now in its scaling phase, where institutions with sophisticated infrastructure and regulatory positioning continue to capture institutional flows.