Crypto Onboarding at Swiss/Liechtenstein Private Banks – How Far Back Do They Check?

[Jigam]

For those with experience onboarding to crypto friendly private banks (especially in Switzerland or Liechtenstein)””
Suppose someone has built up a substantial crypto position through purely on-chain activity (DeFi wallet trades, NFT flips, meme coin cycles, etc.), without using KYC'd exchanges or on/off-ramps. They're now looking to move into formal private banking channels.

Their situation:

Ӣ Currently a UAE resident

Ӣ Holds a passport from a different country

Ӣ Some of the on-chain trades happened before they became a UAE resident



Question: Do these banks typically ask where the person was tax-resident or physically located at the time those trades occurred? Or is it generally enough to:

Ӣ Provide a full wallet audit or on-chain overview

Ӣ Confirm current UAE residency

In short, how deeply do Swiss/Liechtenstein banks investigate past residency? Do they demand documented proof of prior residency, or do they mainly care about your current residency status and an on-chain audit trail?

 

[hlepic211]

Depends. With UAE residency they will probably ask more than for example if you are a EU resident. Usually it's the first transfer from fiat to crypto exchange (or proof where your crypto came from), then trading acc/onchain activity screenshots/trades, then probably tax declarations. Can be partially to cover the deposited amount. Now they also ask for wallet addresses.

To keep things simple you have to have clean history of the fund movements. Once you're in it gets easier.

PS. VERY recommended to have other sources of income besides crypto

 

[brianK]

Wouldn't it be possible to simply create a new wallet, move crypto into it based on an invoice you send to a company for a service, and have them pay that invoice in crypto to the wallet? Then wait a bit and show everything to the bank?

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[daniels27]

brianK said:
Wouldn't it be possible to simply create a new wallet, move crypto into it based on an invoice you send to a company for a service, and have them pay that invoice in crypto to the wallet? Then wait a bit and show everything to the bank?
Click to expand...

Has been frequently recommended here. I would expect it to worry for household numbers. If you come with 5M, it may not work that well or lead to further questions.

In this case, the bank may be interested in seeing the initial investment. If you can prove 50k in 2011 into bitcoin, it would be evident where wealth comes from.

Banks normally don't check taxation years back. Also note that many counties only keep records for a set period, often 10 years.

 

[Martin Everson]

Jigam said:
In short, how deeply do Swiss/Liechtenstein banks investigate past residency? Do they demand documented proof of prior residency, or do they mainly care about your current residency status and an on-chain audit trail?
Click to expand...

Compliance requirements change regularly. I would reach out to your target bank and ask them directly. There is NO one size fits all compliance procedure.

Ask i.e Amina Bank directly. They have office in UAE so your clearly resident in one of their target markets.

https://aminagroup.com/contact/

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Please note my posts should not be taken as financial or tax advice. Please seek professional advice in that respect.

 

[ImKing]

Martin Everson said:
https://aminagroup.com/contact/
Click to expand...

Are they a worldwide operating bank or more Swiss based with office in UAE and Hong Kong ?

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[daniels27]

ImKing said:
Are they a worldwide operating bank or more Swiss based with office in UAE and Hong Kong ?
Click to expand...

A Swiss bank. Their Hong Kong office is Club Lusitano, I would say not really an office in the traditional sense.

Last edited: Mar 30, 2025

 

[John Spectre]

Jigam said:
For those with experience onboarding to crypto friendly private banks (especially in Switzerland or Liechtenstein)””
Suppose someone has built up a substantial crypto position through purely on-chain activity (DeFi wallet trades, NFT flips, meme coin cycles, etc.), without using KYC'd exchanges or on/off-ramps. They're now looking to move into formal private banking channels.

Their situation:

Ӣ Currently a UAE resident

Ӣ Holds a passport from a different country

Ӣ Some of the on-chain trades happened before they became a UAE resident



Question: Do these banks typically ask where the person was tax-resident or physically located at the time those trades occurred? Or is it generally enough to:

Ӣ Provide a full wallet audit or on-chain overview

Ӣ Confirm current UAE residency

In short, how deeply do Swiss/Liechtenstein banks investigate past residency? Do they demand documented proof of prior residency, or do they mainly care about your current residency status and an on-chain audit trail?
Click to expand...

I will tell you about my personal experience, where communication with crypto banks was exclusively about funds from cryptocurrency activity:
all they were interested in was the legality of receiving crypto or buying crypto using legal sources of money, without gray and black zone (this is a greeting and good luck to those who say that you can make an invoice for a fresh no-name company for several million, transfer crypto to a new empty wallet and deceive banking compliance in Switzerland or Liechtenstein).
Plus to this, more or less standard KYC with information about current residence, business, etc.

They absolutely did not care about taxes for past years, residence of past years and things that went beyond crypto activity.


although I can assume that if crypto activity was strongly connected with regular entry and exit into fiat: p2p, a lot of paper cash, potential operations that could require a license for actions and other things that could lead to serious legal consequences such as: non-payment of taxes, doing business without proper registration or license, then banks may well ask for such information.

 

[jeffbean]

John Spectre said:
I will tell you about my personal experience, where communication with crypto banks was exclusively about funds from cryptocurrency activity:
all they were interested in was the legality of receiving crypto or buying crypto using legal sources of money, without gray and black zone (this is a greeting and good luck to those who say that you can make an invoice for a fresh no-name company for several million, transfer crypto to a new empty wallet and deceive banking compliance in Switzerland or Liechtenstein).
Plus to this, more or less standard KYC with information about current residence, business, etc.

They absolutely did not care about taxes for past years, residence of past years and things that went beyond crypto activity.


although I can assume that if crypto activity was strongly connected with regular entry and exit into fiat: p2p, a lot of paper cash, potential operations that could require a license for actions and other things that could lead to serious legal consequences such as: non-payment of taxes, doing business without proper registration or license, then banks may well ask for such information.
Click to expand...

Bank name please?

 

[ImKing]

John Spectre said:
I will tell you about my personal experience, where communication with crypto banks was exclusively about funds from cryptocurrency activity:
all they were interested in was the legality of receiving crypto or buying crypto using legal sources of money, without gray and black zone (this is a greeting and good luck to those who say that you can make an invoice for a fresh no-name company for several million, transfer crypto to a new empty wallet and deceive banking compliance in Switzerland or Liechtenstein).
Plus to this, more or less standard KYC with information about current residence, business, etc.

They absolutely did not care about taxes for past years, residence of past years and things that went beyond crypto activity.


although I can assume that if crypto activity was strongly connected with regular entry and exit into fiat: p2p, a lot of paper cash, potential operations that could require a license for actions and other things that could lead to serious legal consequences such as: non-payment of taxes, doing business without proper registration or license, then banks may well ask for such information.
Click to expand...

It's bank depending and without names of the banks you have tried this makes not much sense.

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[Jigam]

John Spectre said:
I will tell you about my personal experience, where communication with crypto banks was exclusively about funds from cryptocurrency activity:
all they were interested in was the legality of receiving crypto or buying crypto using legal sources of money, without gray and black zone (this is a greeting and good luck to those who say that you can make an invoice for a fresh no-name company for several million, transfer crypto to a new empty wallet and deceive banking compliance in Switzerland or Liechtenstein).
Plus to this, more or less standard KYC with information about current residence, business, etc.

They absolutely did not care about taxes for past years, residence of past years and things that went beyond crypto activity.


although I can assume that if crypto activity was strongly connected with regular entry and exit into fiat: p2p, a lot of paper cash, potential operations that could require a license for actions and other things that could lead to serious legal consequences such as: non-payment of taxes, doing business without proper registration or license, then banks may well ask for such information.
Click to expand...

How did the bank verify your crypto activity? Did they require you to get a third-party audit, or did they perform their own internal investigation into your wallets? Did they make you explain each and every transaction?

 

[John Spectre]

Jigam said:
How did the bank verify your crypto activity? Did they require you to get a third-party audit, or did they perform their own internal investigation into your wallets? Did they make you explain each and every transaction?
Click to expand...

CEX activity verified by trading logs or/and read only access to the trading account.

On chain operations are visible as is, only need to proof wallet ownership by signing a message with them or providing screenshots.

I'm pretty sure they are use 3rd party analyzing tools to verify wallets. But that's all on their side.

I've never been asked to explain every transaction.