The Syz family, one of Switzerland’s important banking families, split into two due to disagreements over cryptocurrency strategies. Marc Syz, one of the managers of Banque Syz, advocated a Bitcoin-focused corporate treasury management plan, unlike his family’s traditional banking approach, and chose his own way to implement this plan.
Background of the Bitcoin Treasury Plan Debate
Banque Syz was founded in 1995 and is known as one of the most established private banks in Switzerland. The bank’s partner, Marc Syz, ran a 1.2 billion Swiss franc alternative investment unit and proposed adding 5,000 Bitcoins held by the family-controlled corporate treasury company Future Holdings AG directly to the bank’s portfolio.
It is known that Future Holdings has 5,000 Bitcoins in its safe. The total value of these assets corresponds to approximately $450 million as of March 2026. The fact that the company has a Bitcoin portfolio of this size makes it stand out in both the banking and crypto markets.
Marc Syz aimed to position Bitcoin as the main asset for alternative investors by integrating Future Holdings directly into the bank, as in the case of US MicroStrategy. In this process, Richard Byworth also became involved as a partner; He stands out as a person who previously worked as a manager at HSBC and Ripple companies.
The bank’s board of directors opposed this proposal, mainly due to the risk of volatility. Eric Syz, the other leader of the Syz family, stated that action should be focused on protecting the assets of its customers and argued that such a risk is not suitable for the bank.
IPO and Outlook for Crypto in Switzerland
After the separation, Marc Syz and Richard Byworth decided to take Future Holdings public independently. The company is preparing to double-list on both Nasdaq and SIX Swiss Exchange by applying to the Swiss authority FINMA. It is aimed to raise a significant fund of 500 million Swiss francs from the public offering.
This development is not just a domestic dispute; It also reveals the attitudes of Switzerland’s well-established private banks and wealthy families towards digital assets. Latest data from PwC predicts that 28 percent of private banks in Switzerland will allocate 5-10 percent of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies by 2027. However, this transformation is progressing slowly due to significant disagreements within the institution, just like the Syz family experienced.
Although Eric Syz and Banque Syz management continue to move forward with the classical banking approach and focus on digitalization, they do not want to carry crypto assets such as Bitcoin to their balance sheets.
Marc Syz wants to pave the way for this transformation by directly presenting himself and his vision to the market with the public offering of Future Holdings. The plan has been formalized and the process is progressing at FINMA. Thus, the Syz family’s crossroads in the financial world was finalized.
