Saffery Trust partners with Hoptrail to provide institutional grade client crypto onboarding

Saffery Trust is deploying Hoptrail’s AML reporting and diligence tools to empower crypto HNWI onboarding.

From the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority issuing a reminder to regulated firms of their obligations when it comes to crypto assets, to the US Securities and Exchange Commission investigating a ‘perceived crypto-asset regulatory gap’, the friction between the crypto and traditional financial worlds has never been more prevalent.

For cryptocurrency owners, the transition of digital assets into traditional (“fiat”) currencies – known as ‘off-ramping’ – can be challenging. With crypto’s perceived anonymity, the ability to meet the high anti-money laundering (AML) and due diligence thresholds of reputable jurisdictions is one of the biggest hurdles.

Recent events highlighting the high-risk nature of cryptocurrencies, such as the collapse of FTX and the failure of the Terra blockchain, have fuelled public perception that crypto is not to be trusted. Not only is there a lack of trust from regulated service providers surrounding wealth generated from crypto, the lack of experience from most providers in dealing with crypto assets is a concern for clients who have spent years generating legitimate digital wealth.

With proven experience in supporting crypto clients in both holding and off-ramping their assets, Saffery Trust’s Digital Asset Teams in Guernsey, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands provide a level of comfort to traditional service providers in the onboarding of crypto clients.

The continual expansion of our global network of specialist advisers to meet our clients’ needs led to our strategic engagement with crypto diligence firm Hoptrail. Impressed with Hoptrail’s level of technical expertise and innovative thinking, we established a partnership with the firm to help us in establishing how clients accrued their crypto wealth and identifying and avoiding potential financial crime exposure on the client’s crypto assets, allowing us to make accurate risk-based decisions.

The due diligence undertaken by Hoptrail assists us in satisfying our AML and source of wealth regulatory obligations and supports us in giving some reassurance to third-party providers – including banks and investment managers – that a client’s crypto funds are legitimate and safe to transfer through traditional routes.

Our partnership with Hoptrail has proven to be an invaluable asset in our crypto client toolbox, offering an extra level of verification and diligence for a high-risk asset class. You can find more information about how Hoptrail supports our onboarding of high-net-worth crypto clients here.