Sygnum's Bitcoin Loan Plan Requires 3 of 5 Keys to Sign
Key Facts
Sygnum Bank announced a partnership with Debifi on 24 October 2025 to develop the "Multi-Sig" product, which provides fiat loans against bitcoin collateral, according to a bank statement. The announced design places pledged bitcoin in a multisignature collateral wallet requiring signatures from 3 of 5 keys. Under this arrangement, control over collateral is distributed rather than concentrated in a single key, with assets available for on-chain verification. The bank said the product provides a "cryptographic guarantee preventing the rehypothecation of assets," making the method of controlling collateral one of its core features. The project thus combines borrowing in traditional currencies with the use of bitcoin as collateral, under a custody arrangement governed by the signing mechanism. That mechanism makes the movement of collateral assets conditional on obtaining the required number of signatures within the wallet.
In Sygnum's general lending business, the bank's website lists a bitcoin loan-to-value ratio of 65%. This ratio applies to its general lending offering, which provides direct financing in Swiss francs, euros and US dollars. The bank describes financing under this offering as fiat funding against assets pledged to secure the credit. Interest is calculated on balances used daily, according to the terms published on its lending page. The bank says "interest is charged only on balances used daily," linking interest costs to amounts actually drawn from the financing. The general offering's terms combine a specified financing ratio against the value of pledged bitcoin, access to the traditional currencies listed and interest calculated on daily usage.
Sygnum says in its lending guidelines that clients retain ownership of the assets they pledge and that it does not rehypothecate their collateral. These assets remain subject to loan coverage requirements throughout the borrowing period, under the margin and liquidation mechanisms explained by the bank. When a margin call occurs, the bank contacts the client to request additional collateral. The request aims to restore coverage to the initial margin level, according to Sygnum's guidelines. When the liquidation level is reached, the bank has the right to "close any open positions and liquidate client collateral" to cover negative balances and collateral requirements. Conversely, the standard custody mechanism for the bank's loans allows assets exceeding the required collateral level to be released if the value of the collateral rises. Those excess assets become available for trading and external transfers, under the terms the bank sets out for its credit lines.
The partnership builds on Sygnum's previous lending against digital assets; in 2024, the bank arranged a $50 million bitcoin-backed syndicated loan for Ledn. In its results for the first half of 2024, it reported loan volume growth of more than 360% compared with the same period a year earlier. The bank included this increase among the strong business results that supported profitability during that period. In another example of why companies use bitcoin as collateral for financing, Jason Les, chief executive of Riot, described his company's facility as a source of funding that preserves shareholders' stakes. Les said the company had entered into its first bitcoin-backed facility and that it provides "non-dilutive funding at an attractive cost of financing." That description relates to Riot's facility, while the syndicated Ledn loan represents a precedent announced by Sygnum as part of its track record in bitcoin-backed financing.
By the end of fiscal year 2025, Sygnum said its client base had reached 2,300. These clients came from more than 80 countries, according to the bank's figures on the scope of its business. Client assets held by the bank totaled about $6 billion at the end of the same fiscal year. The timeline in the Debifi partnership announcement targeted the launch of "Multi-Sig" in the first half of 2026. The announcement specified that planned availability at launch would extend to all Sygnum Bank clients, regardless of the client's jurisdiction.