IBKR UK doesn’t allow Swiss Citizens to buy IBIT (crypto etfs in general)
Instead you can buy BTC with Paxos (capped to 30% of portfolio value)
I tried opening an additional IBKR US account, that didn’t work, it’s in the UK entity now
I have an open support ticket to transfer my UK account to the US LLC
Are there any other options besides using something like Swissquote? If not, is it possible to exchange CHF to USD on IBKR and send those USD to Swissquote to buy IBIT there and save on the exchange fees?
I’ve decided to go with Schwab. It’s actually not a problem that they only allow deposits in USD as I’m planning on selling some real BTC in order to buy IBIT. If I can use the BTC/USD pair instead of the BTC/CHF pair I’ll probably even save some on spreads. Thank you.
Also thanks for the other recommendations. I’ll look into getting a third broker for broker diversification reasons - this time swiss based - in the future.
CH Accounts are UK Based. This should change by next Oct. 8th
« The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a crypto policy reversal. From 8 October 2025, retail investors will once again be able to buy crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs).
The rollout will begin with bitcoin (BTC-USD) and other approved digital assets, through FCA-regulated recognised investment exchanges (RIEs). The decision ends a four-year ban that had cut off ordinary UK investors from tax-efficient, exchange-listed crypto exposure. »
I’ve been doing self-custody for 8 years now - I’ll continue doing so for most of my stash but I’ll be liquidating some in the near future. Due to me travelling for an extended period of time and not having access to the cold storage I think this is the best solution for me.
But completely understand where you’re coming from.
Ok. I keep for similar reasons a tiny part on several exchanges. May I ask what’s the reasoning behind IBIT vs exchanges? Just the probability of an exchange is going broke? With an ETF you have the management fees plus the transaction fees are probably not less (but yes, it’s a tiny part compared to the volatility of bitcoin).
correct, I give a higher probability of an exchange going broke/doing fraud than the counterparty/custody risk of IBIT. There’s also some FTX PTSD in this decision.
Having a “professional” status might sound scary in switzerland (at least for taxes) but if this doesn’t have any implications on taxes it might be a good way, thank you for mentioning
It’s not scary, it has nothing to do with “professional” status in CH.
There are 2 options:
500K + experience and trade volume. The trade volume requirement is quite complex so this might get you in trouble with the tax office, because in order to satisfy you have to have frequent (high) trades
Simple one - have 2M+ in liquid net worth, then the requirement with trades is not needed.
I do have a status of Professional Client, but considered retail in CH - I went with the option 2. So I can def confirm that IBIT is tradeable.
We are aware that the FCA has decided to lift restrictions on UK retail customers trading crypto ETNs.
However, we are still in the process of enabling IB-UK retail clients to trade crypto ETFs/ETPs. As such, as of now symbol BTCW and WXBT remain restricted for UK retail clients.
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