Binance and Polychain Are Funding a Crypto-Friendly Bank in Malta

"We want to be that pillar of banking for the ecosystem to support how it gets done. If anything, how to wean off traditional banking and getting crypto to be that platform."

Pandolfino said the bank raised $10 million so far and is looking to raise $30 million more in the near future.

The bank's leading investors include the crypto exchange Binance, the hedge fund Polychain Capital and the Czech firm Carduus Asset Management.

Today more institutions - from Silvergate Bank in California to Metropolitan Bank in New York to WEG Bank AG in Germany - serve the crypto industry.

All of this poses the question of which bank shareholder will be the first to transition from crypto entrepreneur to bank chairman.

Former Malta Stock Exchange director Dr. Abdalla Kablan, also a member of the Dubai Future Council for Blockchain, is the crypto-savvy outlier on Founders Bank's current board.

The road toward launching a crypto bank has been paved with challenges.

Originally, Founders Bank planned to raise capital with equity tokens.

Pandolfino said the bank might explore compliant ways to work with tokens in the more distant future.

WEG Bank AG shareholder Derek Capo, founder of TokenPay, told CoinDesk he still believes his German bank will have first-mover advantage when it comes to serving European crypto companies.