Major Swiss cryptocurrency-enabled bank Seba is changing its name amid growing ambitions to expand its trading services worldwide.
Seba Bank AG has rebranded to Amina Bank AG, the firm announced to Cointelegraph on Nov. 30. “We opted to change our name from SEBA Bank due to similarities with SEB Bank in Sweden. SEB Bank and SEBA Bank agreed to a name change in 2023,” Amina CEO Franz Bergmueller told Cointelegraph.
The new name, Amina, stems from the term “transamination,” meaning the transference of one compound to another, the firm said — referring to its mission to bring together various elements of traditional, digital and crypto banking.
While the new naming is based on the idea of compounding different types of banking, Amina’s previous name, Seba, is reportedly a play on the name of its founder, Sebastien Merillat. “I’m just passionate about technology and seeing how it will work,” Merillat said in an interview in 2019.
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Seba’s rebranding to Amina comes amid the crypto bank actively expanding its products around the world. In early November 2023, Seba obtained a license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, which allowed the firm to offer crypto trading services in the country. In 2022, Seba also obtained financial services permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market and opened an office in Abu Dhabi.
“As we look forward to 2024, our ambition is to accelerate the growth of our strategic hubs in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi, and to continue our global expansion,” Amina CEO said, adding:
“Currently, we keep our focus on three regions: Switzerland, Abu Dhabi and APAC, including Hong Kong and Singapore.”
Apart from its regulated hubs in Zug, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, Amina operates globally, offering its clients traditional and crypto banking services. Current clients of Amina Bank — formerly Seba Bank — will be unaffected by the rebrand, as all operations will be business as usual across the board, the firm said.
Launched in 2018, Amina is a major player in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, enabling many financial institutions to operate crypto-related services. In November 2023, Switzerland’s St.Galler Kantonalbank, one of the largest banks in the country, partnered with then-branded Seba to offer its clients digital asset custody and brokerage services.
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