Zug, 22 September 2020 – Today, Bitcoin Suisse has announced support for the new Tezos token standards FA1.2 and FA2 in the ISAE-3402 audited Bitcoin Suisse Vault. The FA1.2 token standard has recently been used in the issuance of the tzBTC token in April 2020. The newly-developed FA2 token standard will serve as the basis for future token offerings on the Tezos blockchain. The Bitcoin Suisse Vault is the first and only institutional-grade custody service to support the two token standards so far.

Growth in Tezos and tokens

The Tezos ecosystem has continued its strong growth over the course of 2020. The development of widely applicable token standards such as the FA1.2 and FA2 is another step towards broader adoption and usage for Tezos-based tokens, including for security token issuance. With storage in the institutional-grade Bitcoin Suisse Vault, such tokens gain an extra layer of trust needed for wide-scale adoption.

Markus Perdrizat, Head Custody at Bitcoin Suisse commented: “The Tezos blockchain is at the forefront of the rapidly evolving blockchain industry, as is Bitcoin Suisse. That’s why it is only natural that we move quickly to add custody for FA1.2 and FA2 tokens so that we are ready to support our clients with the next wave of crypto-financial innovation that is coming.”

In April 2020, the FA1.2 standard was used to issue the tzBTC, a Tezos-based token representing Bitcoin. The innovative, decentralized tzBTC project was supported by a number of organizations in Switzerland’s Crypto Valley, including Bitcoin Suisse, its subsidiary Swiss Crypto Tokens, as well as the Bitcoin Association Switzerland, Sygnum, and Woorton, among others.

David Fuchs, Head Enterprise Adoption EMEA of the Tezos Foundation commented: “The integration of new Tezos token standards into the PwC-audited Bitcoin Suisse Vault is yet another catalyst for institutional adoption of the Tezos blockchain. We look forward to the cutting-edge financial innovations that will be built on Tezos as a result of this implementation.”

Tezos has been the blockchain of choice for a number of high-profile projects looking to issue security tokens. In May, Banco BTG Pactual, the largest private investment bank in Latin America, announced its decision to issue real estate mortgage-backed securities on the Tezos blockchain in the form of tokens.

New innovation and new standards

The Bitcoin Suisse Vault has a strong history of continuous innovation. Since its launch in 2018, custody for new assets has been constantly expanded so that now over 90% of the crypto asset market is supported by the Vault. This includes support for major cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, BSV in addition to all ERC20/223 tokens and Tezos’s native cryptocurrency, XTZ. In May of this year, the Vault added support for the delegation of XTZ tokens for staking purposes.

The Bitcoin Suisse Vault not only adopts new token standards, it also adheres to the highest standards in security and reliability. It has been independently audited by PwC, Grant Thornton, and Zühlke Engineering, and has received ISAE 3402 Type 1 and Type 2 reports. These factors, plus its highly-customizable multi-signature plus governance system, have made the Vault the choice of clients storing over 1 billion USD in crypto assets at Bitcoin Suisse.