Swissquote Group has revised its annual revenue and profit expectations downward following a significant decline in its first-half crypto income.
The online bank adjusted its full-year revenue and profit estimates after a steep drop in crypto trading volumes.
By Francisco Rodrigues | Edited by Sheldon Reback
Swissquote Group (SQN), a prominent Swiss banking firm, announced a 66.2% decrease in net crypto income for the first half of the year, bringing it down to 14.6 million Swiss francs (approximately $18 million). This decline led the company to reduce its full-year revenue forecasts by about 30 million francs, adjusting the target to 730 million francs.
According to the firm’s results presentation, the total cryptocurrency trading volume fell by 63.5%, totaling 2.58 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion). Swissquote attributed this downturn to price drops across most cryptocurrencies, noting that Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 33% and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 47% during the six months ending June 30. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) also experienced a 40% loss.
In its statement, Swissquote remarked, “The revised guidance now reflects a weaker-than-expected crypto environment.” Additionally, the company reported a loss of 5.3 million francs on the crypto inventory held to support trading on its SQX exchange.
Despite the challenges in the crypto sector, growth in other areas helped maintain overall revenue stability and mitigated profit decline, with client assets rising by nearly 20% to 96.3 billion francs. Following the announcement, shares of Swissquote Group saw a decrease of 14%.