Singapore-Backed Asset Manager Launches First Swiss Bitcoin ETF
A Singapore-backed asset manager has won the race to launch Switzerland's first bitcoin ETF. In an interview with finews, BIT Asset Management CEO Dominik Oggenfuss explains how he plans to win over private banks and pension funds – and whether Asian clients are next.
On Tuesday, Switzerland's financial center was left guessing. Swiss regulator Finma had approved the country's first bitcoin ETF but kept the name of the issuer to itself.
As finews had correctly surmised, the firm behind it is BIT Asset Management, the Zurich-based arm of Singapore's BIT Group, formerly known as Matrixport. The company confirmed as much in a press release on Wednesday morning.
Two years ago, BIT took over the asset management business of Crypto Finance, which in 2021 had launched the «Crypto Market Index Fund», the first crypto fund under Swiss law for qualified investors. Now the pioneer is following up.
Shortly after the official announcement, Dominik Oggenfuss, a former UBS banker in Singapore, welcomes finews.asia to BIT's bright offices in downtown Zurich. The CEO's delight at the coup is as evident as his eagerness to get the product off to a strong start in the market.
Mr. Oggenfuss, when did you learn that Finma had approved your bitcoin fund?
On Tuesday morning, through our fund administrator, PvB Pernet von Ballmoos. Technically, they were also the applicant.
So at the same time as the public?
Yes, that's part of the process. As far as I know, it was the same with the «Crypto Market Index Fund» almost exactly five years ago.
So there was a big celebration yesterday?
(laughs) No, but we've been very busy preparing our communications ever since.
You are a pioneer: Your predecessor organization, Crypto Finance, launched the «Crypto Market Index Fund» back in 2021.
Yes, BIT Group bought its asset management activities two years ago, while the rest stayed with Deutsche Börse. The deal was driven by the conviction that Switzerland and Singapore are key locations for preserving wealth.
What have five years with that fund, which is open only to institutional investors, taught you?
It's a product for investors who prefer a fund structure supervised by Finma for their crypto exposure. It gives them access to the ten largest cryptocurrencies, which makes it a sound, diversified entry point.
Naturally, bitcoin makes up the bulk of it there too. The past 12 months were somewhat tougher given how markets developed, but the fund has been very stable and continues to draw interest from the family office community.
Now to the new fund: It is bitcoin-only and also open to retail investors.
It will be available to anyone their custodian bank classifies as eligible and who can trade on SIX. From our perspective, it's nonetheless an institutional product that opens bitcoin up to a broader investor base.
We are thinking mainly of private banks, pension funds, and family offices. For portfolio managers, it offers cost-transparent exposure through an end-to-end, Swiss-made product.
In its press release, Finma attached several warnings to the product.
I think that's very important and very good. I started my career at JP Morgan, and the main credo I took away from there was fiduciary duty: Managing third-party capital is an enormous responsibility.
These are the savings of people who have worked their whole lives. That philosophy should apply in crypto as well, and I welcome Finma's wake-up call, which is addressed to all other providers too.
«These are the savings of people who have worked their whole lives»
How long was the bitcoin ETF in the making?
When I joined a year ago, its outlines were already in place. Building the operational side from scratch was a genuinely tough challenge.
A pure bitcoin ETF is nothing new, of course, as they have existed across the Atlantic for some time. But net asset value, trading, in-kind subscription – all of that has to be watertight.
We built on existing working relationships, with Amina Bank as custodian and PvB Pernet von Ballmoos as administrator.
What is in-kind subscription?
If you hold bitcoin on a regulated, compliant platform, you can open a banking relationship with Amina, provided you meet all compliance criteria. You can then transfer your bitcoin to the fund's custodian and have it credited to your portfolio as fund units.
In principle, there is no minimum threshold for this.
Blackrock launched its bitcoin ETF almost three years ago. Why another one?
In today's environment, it matters more and more to investors to know exactly where their assets are held, and Switzerland plays a key role here. I believe the regulatory oversight and robustness with which Switzerland has built its digital asset landscape are world-leading.
On that basis, we offer a fully Swiss-made, end-to-end product. That's the main advantage for Swiss investors such as private banks and pension funds.
Why should private banks and pension funds invest in crypto through funds?
The existing fund has resonated mainly with family offices. The new one, in my view, has earned its place on a private bank's product shelf.
Pension funds and private retirement plans under Switzerland's third pillar will increasingly need to offer digital assets to stay attractive to a younger generation. A small allocation also proved to be a stabilizer in portfolios during the geopolitical shocks earlier this year.
Hardly any chief investment officer can afford to bury their head in the sand and ignore this asset class. I see us as a companion on that journey.
«Hardly any chief investment officer can afford to bury their head in the sand»
Some Swiss investors cover crypto through exchange-traded products, or ETPs.
Yes. But I'm not sure all investors are aware that these are debt instruments that carry issuer risk.
An ETF, by contrast, is a fund structure – in our case, even a Swiss one. That's the key distinction.
How is the ETF priced?
We are fully competitive with the international providers. You have to be in this market, or you don't stand a chance.
According to Finma, approval procedures for similar products are still pending. How do you plan to use your first-mover advantage?
BIT Group's founders have long placed great importance on Switzerland as a location. Being first here took real vision and ambition at the time, and it is now earning us considerable media attention.
We will present and explain the product to our clients at events in Geneva and Zurich. Under my leadership, we will now build out targeted sales activities, establish trust, explain, and stand by clients at the right moment.
Fortunately, we also have a large group behind us.
Are you also planning sales activities in Asia?
The product could well be of interest to Asian clients once it has been reviewed and cleared from a regulatory and compliance standpoint. We take Finma's call seriously and distribute with due caution: the right product for the right client.
BIT Asset Management manages around 6 billion. How much of that sits in the existing «Crypto Market Index Fund»?
A very small part. That product lives mainly off the Crypto Finance network, particularly among family offices.
What are your volume ambitions for the bitcoin ETF?
We certainly want to pass the billion mark. Like any CEO, I'd naturally rather get there today than tomorrow, but I expect it to take six to nine months.
That also depends on the market, of course: How will geopolitics and currencies develop? I'm optimistic it will get off to a good start.
«We certainly want to pass the billion mark»
When is the first trading day on SIX?
We're hoping for around mid-November, but that will be announced in due course. It still depends on operational implementation by all the partners involved, and everyone is working on it.
And then there will be a bell-ringing ceremony?
Yes, absolutely, and BIT Group's founders will certainly want to be there. This is an important milestone for the group and also reflects our long-term commitment to Switzerland. A separate announcement will follow.
Dominik Oggenfuss has been CEO of BIT Asset Management in Zurich since October 2025. The company is a Finma-supervised asset manager and part of Singapore-based BIT Group. He was previously a partner at energy transition adviser Welsbach Holdings. Before that, he held senior sales and business development roles in Singapore, at firms including VI Asset Management, Incomlend, and EFA Invest. A political science graduate, he began his career at JP Morgan in London and Geneva in 2003. He later looked after Swiss family offices and ultra-high-net-worth clients at UBS in Singapore.
