Bank Frick is a family-owned bank from Balzers, Liechtenstein, founded in 1998 and 100% held by the Kuno Frick Family Foundation (the foundation bought back Net1's stake in 2021). Its positioning is honest and narrow: "the bank for financial intermediaries and finance professionals". This is not a private bank for strolls along a Geneva embankment — it is working infrastructure for funds, PSPs, fintechs, trustees and family offices.
Bank Frick entered crypto earlier than almost anyone in Europe: it has offered regulated trading and custody of digital assets since 2018, and Liechtenstein's Blockchain Act (TVTG) gave that a solid statutory base. Liechtenstein is part of the EEA, so banking services passport across the entire European Economic Area.
Licence and Supervision
A full Liechtenstein banking licence supervised by the FMA. Deposits are covered by the Liechtenstein deposit guarantee scheme (up to CHF 100,000). The key recent event: in December 2025 Bank Frick obtained MiCAR authorisation from the FMA (dated 23 December 2025 in ESMA's interim MiCA register) — custody, order execution and transfer services for crypto assets can be offered to clients in Liechtenstein and all 27 EU member states without separate local licences. Beyond Europe — a DFSA licence and a branch in DIFC (Dubai).
Products
- Classic banking: multi-currency accounts, payments, e-banking — the fiat backbone crypto businesses usually lack.
- Custody and trading of digital assets (BTC, ETH, BCH, ADA, DOT, XTZ and more) on institutional infrastructure (Fireblocks); sponsored access to RULEMATCH since 2025.
- Staking from within the custody perimeter.
- Tokenization: structuring tokenised assets — real estate, commodities, funds; token sale support.
- Infrastructure for PSPs and e-commerce: acquiring and vIBANs — virtual IBANs with automatic routing of incoming payments.
Who It Suits and Entry Thresholds
The core clientele is B2B: asset managers, trustees and corporate service providers, funds, insurers, law firms, fintech and crypto companies, family offices. Walk-in private clients are not the focus: per public intermediary sources, the minimum balance for a private account is EUR/USD/CHF 500,000, and corporate cases are assessed individually. Geography per the bank's official FAQ: the core markets are Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria and Germany; clients from the whole EEA/EU are generally accepted, UK clients are served through the London branch, clients from Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan are processed passively, and applications from other jurisdictions are reviewed case by case.
Onboarding and Compliance
Onboarding is digital — for legal entities (companies, foundations, holdings) and for individuals. Review runs deep: the bank explicitly warns that every application is examined in full. For crypto businesses, the client's own regulatory standing is critical — VASP/CASP status, clean tokenomics, a transparent flow of funds. Sanctions-sensitive profiles without a strong documentation package do not get through.
Risks and Limitations
- Small scale: 2025 profit of CHF 9.2 million — a boutique, not a systemic bank.
- Per public reports (finews), the Kuno Frick Family Foundation, supported by PwC, is reviewing strategic options up to a sale or a new investor — corporate news is worth monitoring.
- A geographic filter: outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK only clients from Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan are processed passively, and every other jurisdiction is reviewed case by case.
- The private-client threshold makes the bank irrelevant for smaller tickets.
Q/A
Is Bank Frick a crypto bank or a regular bank?
A regular Liechtenstein bank with a full licence that was among the first in Europe (since 2018) to add regulated crypto services. Fiat and crypto live in one banking perimeter.
What does the MiCAR authorisation deliver?
The right to provide custody, order execution and transfer services for crypto assets to clients in Liechtenstein and, under a passport, in all 27 EU member states, without local licences in each country; ESMA's interim register lists no passport for Norway or Iceland.
What is the entry threshold for a private client?
Per public intermediary sources — from EUR/USD/CHF 500,000 in balances. The bank's core remains B2B: intermediaries, funds, fintech and crypto companies.
Does the bank accept non-European clients?
Per the bank's FAQ, clients from Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan are processed passively and applications from other non-European jurisdictions are reviewed case by case; the core markets are Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, with the wider EEA/EU and the UK also served.