Estonia’s LHV bank has started to offer its clients the opportunity to trade in crypto assets, becoming the first bank in the country to do so.
The bank’s clients can trade such crypto assets as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Chainlink in the LHV mobile app, the bank said in a statement.
The trading solution in the bank’s app is based on Bitstamp, one of the largest licensed crypto exchanges in the world.
“The acquired crypto assets can be seen and managed alongside your other investments. It provides convenient access to a popular and rapidly growing asset class and gives clients a comprehensive overview of their portfolio. In addition, LHV’s new solution offers pre-filled tax forms to private persons, for the fast and correct declaration of crypto transactions,” the bank noted.
“We offer our investment services to support our clients in growing their wealth just the way they want to. This is why we are constantly monitoring developments in the investment world and are aligned with our clients’ interests,” Martin Mets, the head of investment services in retail banking, said.
A plan to add new instruments and solutions
Initially, the bank’s customers will be able to buy and sell eight selected major cryptocurrencies at market prices: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Uniswap (UNI), Chainlink (LINK), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Polygon (MATIC) and Aave (AAVE).
“In the near future, we plan to add new instruments, order types and other solutions for more convenient trading. In the longer term, we will closely monitor the development of blockchain solutions in the world and, if the right opportunity arises, we are certainly ready to take the next step towards offering blockchain solutions,” Mets added.
LHV is one of the largest domestic financial groups and capital providers in Estonia and it employs over 630 people. As at the end of October 2021, LHV’s banking services are used by 310,000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV have 139,000 active clients and LHV Kindlustus – the group’s insurance branch – protects a total of 140,000 clients.
Cover: LHV’s headquarters in Tallinn’s Maakri quarter. Photo by Kaupo Kalda.
