SwissBorg Review
Summary
SwissBorg is a crypto-investing app that allows you to buy, sell, store more than 60 cryptocurrencies – with transparent fees (1%) and promises that they’ll “always offer the best possible price without taking a cut”.
You can also earn interest on more than 20 of those cryptocurrencies using SwissBorg Earn, which is a nice bonus.
You can also get discounts on fees, and bonuses on interest, if you stake SwissBorg’s token to unlock a premium account. But it’s not required to use and get the benefit of SwissBorg’s app.
SwissBorg is a Switzerland-based crypto investing app that lets you trade and earn interest on more than 2 dozen cryptocurrencies. It offers low fees and a user-friendly interface to make crypto investing as convenient as possible.
This sounds fantastic. But how does SwissBorg compare to other crypto trading apps?
In this SwissBorg review, I’ll run through what this crypto app has to offer. I’ll talk about the app’s pros, cons, features, and fees to help you decide if it’s worth signing up.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
- No limits on how much crypto you can trade.
- Competitive trading fees (1%).
- User-friendly interface and mobile app (iOS and Android).
- Registered and regulated in many European countries.
- Opportunity to earn high interest on certain cryptocurrencies.
Disadvantages
- New cryptocurrency broker with a limited track record.
- Charges withdrawal fees on all currencies.
- Requires SwissBorg Token (CHSB) staking for access to premium features.
What is SwissBorg?
SwissBorg is a crypto trading and investing app developed by the Switzerland-based fintech company SBorg SA. It was founded in 2017 by former hedge fund managers Cyrus Fazel and Anthony Lesoismier-Geniaux.
The company’s mission is to accelerate “the world’s translation to decentralised nations”. SwissBorg states that it hopes to democratise finance by making it “fun, fair, and community-centric”.
SwissBorg is a highly regulated Swiss fintech company that’s registered to operate in multiple European countries.
The company is registered under number CHE-198.086.882 in Switzerland. It’s also registered as a financial services business under number FVT000326 in Estonia.
However, SwissBorg is not registered as a cryptoassset firm with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. As the company doesn’t have headquarters in the UK, FCA registration isn’t legally required – but it’s something to consider before signing up.
Safety-wise, SwissBorg has never experienced a successful platform-wide attack. However, this is no guarantee of future account security.
SwissBorg currently has a 3.8-star rating (1,300+ reviews) on Trustpilot. This is a high rating by cryptoasset firm standards and about 70% of reviewers have left a 5-star review.
Although some of the reviews aren’t that helpful, the more detailed 5-star reviews indicate that people like its fee transparency and that the platform is easy to use.
But around 20% of reviewers gave SwissBorg a 1-star rating. Most of these critical reviews mention holds placed on user accounts and that the company’s onboarding process can be slow.
Neither of these situations are ideal, though they’re common among regulated cryptoasset firms. Plus, SwissBorg’s customer service team seems to follow up with negative reviews left on their Trustpilot page to clear up any potential account issues – which is more than we can say for lots of alternatives out there.
Getting started with SwissBorg is a multi-step process. To create a SwissBorg account:
- Download the SwissBorg app.
- Enter and verify an email address and phone number.
- Provide your legal name, date of birth, and country of residence.
- Answer questions about your investing experience.
- Upload proof of your identity.
SwissBorg has multiple verification levels, each of which requires different identity-related information. These include:
- Level 1. Proof of Identity (passport, national identity card, driving licence, etc.)
- Level 2. Proof of Residence (bank statement, utility, bill, lease agreement, etc.)
- Level 3. Proof of Funds (employment, investment, inheritance, and/or business ownership documents)
At a minimum, all new SwissBorg users need to provide proof of identity to use the app. You’re required to take both a photo of your identity document and a selfie when creating an account.
Documents are normally verified within a few minutes, but it can take a couple of days to get your account up and running.
Main Features
Crypto Trading
SwissBorg is primarily a crypto trading app. You can use SwissBorg to buy and sell more than two dozen cryptocurrencies using a streamlined trading interface.
Since SwissBorg is a broker, not an exchange, the app uses Smart Engine technology to automatically detect the best cryptocurrency prices on major exchanges whenever you want to place a trade. The app then routes your order to that exchange and deposits your crypto in your SwissBorg account.
To buy crypto in the SwissBorg app using British Pounds (GBP):
- Open the SwissBorg app and log in.
- Navigate to the in-app Exchange.
- Select British Pounds (GBP) from the list of available fiat currencies.
- Choose the cryptocurrency you want to buy.
- Press ‘Exchange’.
- Type in the amount of crypto you want to buy.
- Click ‘Next’.
- Review your trade quote and fees.
- Press ‘Confirm Exchange’ if you’re happy with the trade.
- Tap ‘Finish’ to exit the trading terminal.
All SwissBorg trades are processed as market orders, so your funds should be available in your account within seconds.
SwissBorg Earn
SwissBorg Earn is an interest-bearing wallet that lets you earn rewards on certain cryptoassets held in your account.
When you use this feature, SwissBorg lends your funds to a variety of centralised and decentralised finance programmes, including decentralised exchange (DEX) liquidity pools and institutional investors. In exchange, you can earn interest on your assets without much hassle.
SwissBorg currently offers interest on 26 cryptocurrencies, which includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC).
You need to deposit at least €10 worth of assets in your Smart Yield Account in order to earn interest. Any interest you earn is paid out daily and you can withdraw your cryptoassets at any time.
SwissBorg pays substantially higher interest rates to Premium and Genesis Premium account holders than to Standard account holders. There are also risks involved with using this feature – including the potential to lose any deposited assets.
SwissBorg Token (CHSB) & SwissBorg Premium
SwissBorg Token (CHSB) is an ERC-20 reward and governance token for the SwissBorg investing ecosystem. It has a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens, all of which were released into circulation during its initial coin offering (ICO).
There’s an overview in this video of the CHSB token, but this image does a better job at summarising the features:
While you can use SwissBorg as a trading platform without ever owning CHSB tokens, these tokens offer a number of rewards and benefits to stakeholders.
Benefits of the token include:
- Interest Rewards: You can earn interest on your SwissBorg Token (CHSB) holdings through the CHSB Yield 2.0
- Governance Votes: Holders of CHSB tokens can place governance votes on proposed changes to the platform through referendums.
CHSB tokens also power another important part of the SwissBorg ecosystem: SwissBorg Premium.
SwissBorg offers 5 different account types based on the quantity of CHSB tokens that you stake in your account. Each account type offers different fees, features, and interest yields on invested assets.
The following table offers a quick overview of this rewards system:
| Minimum Staked CHSB | Earn Yield Boost | Exchange Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0 | 1x | 1% |
| Explorer | 500 | 1.25x | 1% |
| Community | 2000 | 1.5x | 0.75% |
| Pioneer | 7000 | 1.75x | 0.75% |
| Generation | 20000 | 2x | 0.5% |
| Genesis | 50000 | 2x | 0 - 0.25% |
The primary benefit of non-standard plans is access to increased interest yields and lower exchange fees.
Note that you need to stake your CHSB for at least 1 year to get these benefits. The CHSB that you stake also isn’t eligible for rewards in the CHSB Yield 2.0 programme.
Supported Countries
Swissborg is available in more than 50 countries, which includes the UK, EU, and Switzerland.
Note that some SwissBorg features aren’t available in certain countries. For example, investors in some countries can trade crypto on SwissBorg but they can’t trade fiat pairs.
You can check out SwissBorg’s list of supported countries to see if the app is available in your region.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
SwissBorg currently supports more than 60 cryptocurrencies including:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Tether (USDT)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Pax Gold (PAXG)
- Compound (COMP)
Check out SwissBorg’s full list of supported assets to learn more.
Payment Methods
Investors with SwissBorg can fund their accounts using the following payment methods:
- UK bank transfer (via FPS)
- SEPA bank transfer
- SWIFT wire transfer
- Debit & Credit Card
- Crypto transfer
SwissBorg supports 15 fiat currencies.
This includes:
- British Pound (GBP)
- Euro (EUR)
- Swiss Franc (CHF)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
You can exchange any of these supported fiat currencies in your SwissBorg dashboard. Then you can withdraw your exchanged funds to an external bank account as needed.
SwissBorg Fees
All things considered, SwissBorg is a transparent, low-fee crypto trading platform.
Trading Fees
SwissBorg charges different trading fees based on whether you’ve decided to stake CHSB and unlocked a higher-tier account type.
| Minimum Staked CHSB | Exchange Fees | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0 | 1% |
| Explorer | 500 | 1% |
| Community | 2000 | 0.75% |
| Pioneer | 7000 | 0.75% |
| Generation | 20000 | 0.5% |
| Genesis | 50000 | 0 - 0.25% |
On a standard account (no CHSB staked), you will pay a 1% fee when trading cryptocurrencies – which, by itself, is a competitive rate.
Swissborg also promote that there are no hidden fees in the exchange rate (which is what a disappointing number of alternatives do). They claim to “always offer the best possible price without taking a cut“.
Deposit Fees
All deposits to SwissBorg are fee-free.
However, you will be charged additional fees if you decide to top-up with a debit or credit card. You can find the most up-to-date fees charged for this at the bottom of this page.
Withdrawal Fees
Swissborg charges a 0.10% withdrawal fee on all crypto and fiat withdrawals.
It’s unusual to have to pay a percentage-based withdrawal fee, but SwissBorg does have minimum and maximum withdrawal fees that can be charged for each currency on its platform.
As of the time of writing the minimum and maximum withdrawal fees for British Pound (GBP), Euro (EUR), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) are:
| Minimum Withdrawal Fee | Maximum Withdrawal Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| British Pound (GBP) | £1 | £85 |
| Euro (EUR) | €1 | €100 |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | 0.0002 BTC | 0.0037 BTC |
| Ethereum (ETH) | 0.0012 ETH | 0.053 ETH |
Always double-check SwissBorg’s fee schedule for current pricing information before you withdraw from your account.
Limits
SwissBorg doesn’t limit how much you can trade on the platform.
However, the company places limits on deposits and withdrawals based on your verification level, as seen in the table below:
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit & Withdrawal Limit | €5,000 | €50,000 | €100,000 |
The only other restrictions to be aware of are a €5 minimum and a €120,000 maximum per-trade limit. But you can place as many trades as you’d like without any limitations on your total trading volume.
Security & Insurance
SwissBorg doesn’t provide a lot of information about its security features.
But the company partners with Curv, a leading digital asset security firm, to provide custodial services for its custodial wallets. Curv was recently acquired by PayPal, so it’s unclear how that might affect SwissBorg’s relationship with its custodian.
Other than that, the only major SwissBorg security feature is its Bitcoin (BTC) address changing system. SwissBorg automatically changes your account’s Bitcoin (BTC) address to make your “transactions harder to track by another third party”. This feature isn’t unique to SwissBorg (Coinbase has it, too), but it’s a good privacy-related addition.
SwissBorg doesn’t maintain a platform-wide insurance policy.
SwissBorg Alternatives
If SwissBorg isn’t the right crypto trading platform for your needs, you have other options to choose from.
One option that I like is CoinJar.
CoinJar is a FCA-registered cryptoasset firm that provides quick and low-cost crypto trades (max 1%) using a UK bank transfer. You can purchase more than 50 cryptocurrencies using CoinJar’s simplified instant buy feature or you can save money on transaction fees by using its crypto exchange (max 0.1%).
It also allows you to buy cryptocurrencies instantly with a debit or credit card, but this incurs a higher fee of 2%.
The Bottom Line
SwissBorg might be a new crypto trading app, but it offers a lot to love for convenience-focused investors.
Here are a few things I liked about SwissBorg:
- Transparency & Competitive Fees: SwissBorg is transparent about its fee structure and it offers relatively low trading fees (1% or less) for a user-friendly platform.
- Highly Regulated: SwissBorg might not be FCA-registered (because it doesn’t have UK headquarters), but it’s regulated in Switzerland and a number of other European countries.
- No Trading Limits: While SwissBorg has some deposit and withdrawal restrictions based on your account verification level, you can trade as much crypto as you like on the app.
The catch?
There aren’t too many drawbacks to SwissBorg, but the fact that the company charges fees on all withdrawals isn’t great. You also need to buy and stake SwissBorg Tokens (CHSB) to access premium features and get lower fees on the app, which isn’t something I’m a fan of.
Learn more about the platform on the SwissBorg website.
Any Questions?
Thanks for checking out this Swissborg review!
Got a question about it?
Let me know in the comments below!