The non-custodial, high-risk “degen” narrative is undergoing a major shift. The crypto landscape is being reshaped by spot ETFs, the growing dominance of stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, and even government holdings of Bitcoin through seizures and reserves. Wallet services now face the challenge of balancing DeFi-first principles with the need to integrate traditional financial rails.
BeInCrypto sat with Marcel Harmann, the founding CEO of THORWallet, at Token2049 in Singapore to discuss the future of non-custodial crypto wallet services. Leading non-custodial wallet pioneering native cross-chain swaps, Harmann was keen to see what the industry thinks about current and future businesses.
THORWallet has been in the space since the early days. What was your original vision, and in a crowded wallet market, what are the key verticals where THORWallet has positioned itself as a pioneer?
From the very first day, our vision was to bring financial services based on blockchain and DeFi technology — open, fair, and transparent — to the people. When I mean financial services, it’s non-custodial: not just holding and receiving, but also trading, swapping, perpetuals, and savings account earning functionalities. All financial services a human needs can now be delivered with DeFi, and we want to make this accessible.
We are very well aware that there are many wallets out there, and we tried to carve out some verticals where we can pioneer. We were the first wallet to allow native cross-chain swaps from Bitcoin to Ethereum, ever in the space. We integrated a native Swiss bank into THORWallet — we were the first to do this. We are also a multi-signature solution, which is hyper-secure. We always carve out verticals where we want to be better than the competition.
You mentioned being the first wallet to enable native cross-chain swaps between Bitcoin and Ethereum. Can you explain what ‘native’ means in this context and where you see this technology heading?
Unwrapped tokens, native tokens, are the thing. So cross-chain swaps with our vision to be able to swap any token from any ecosystem to any token from another ecosystem — basically, what a centralized exchange is doing, just fully on the DeFi rails. We have covered this already with about 20,000 tokens, but there are many more tokens. We’re maybe two years out, maybe three max, until you can swap any token to any token fully based only on DeFi.
Like you said, THORWallet has taken an interesting approach by integrating a Swiss bank directly into the wallet. Can you walk us through how the Swiss bank integration actually works for users?
We partnered with a Swiss FinTech. This is optional, but it’s KYCd, obviously, because it’s fiat currency. Everything else is fully non-custodial with no middlemen, just DeFi technology. Once you’ve done the KYC there, you have a very easy way to go in and out of crypto and spend everywhere a Mastercard is accepted. We support multiple currencies—it’s actually a Swiss bank account with Swiss francs, dollars, Euros, and Chinese yuan.
How do you see the relationship between traditional banking and crypto evolving? Will banks adopt crypto, or will crypto evolve into a bank-style system?
The banks are definitely adopting crypto. In Switzerland, all major banks except UBS already offer crypto services. At first, they hated it, then fought it, and now they see the revenue. They need to take part, or the train will leave. We are building DeFi in parallel. Centralized banks use centralized custody, but they will also start offering financial services based on the DeFi rails. You will see it work together, and because DeFi is the superior technology, it will eventually surpass, very similar to the car industry, where the petrol engines will subsequently probably fade out.
Beyond being a standard hot wallet, you’ve built multi-signature capabilities across any blockchain. Can you explain this hybrid security approach and why it matters for users and treasuries?
We are a hot, seed wallet, so you have your seed phrase. But we also want to have a hyper secure version with a multi-signature wallet so you can co-sign with multiple devices — two or three devices. It could be a laptop, a second phone, a friend, or your DAO partner or treasury partner around the globe, and they can co-sign for any token on any chain. The technology is basically chain-agnostic, TSS-based. So it’s hyper-secure — you no longer need a hardware device. Our treasury fund, for example, is managed with this technology.
Gas fees, user experience, and network congestion remain major barriers for mainstream adoption. What solutions are emerging, and how is THORWallet addressing these pain points?
We aim to offer a FinTech-like experience where the user does not know or feel that blockchain technology is involved. Features are popping up everywhere, such as universal gas tanks where you top up one account, which is used to pay for gas fees across the blockchains. Every wallet will adopt it at some point — probably there will be subscription services or wallets that pay the costs themselves, the gas fees for the users, just as a service. We must push blockchain technology into the backend.
Self-custody is fundamental to DeFi, but it’s increasingly under regulatory scrutiny. How do you see this landscape evolving, and which jurisdictions are getting it right?
Self-custody is a cornerstone of DeFi’s blockchain. It’s being challenged by regulators, probably pushed by the traditional competition that doesn’t like it. However, if built correctly and fully decentralized, blockchain technology, DeFi technology, and self-custody peer-to-peer with no middleman cannot be stopped. It’s essential to compare it to past technologies. In the early days of the Internet, it was very cumbersome to connect your modem, which made those funny sounds, and then it was slow. If someone in the house picked up the phone, the connection broke. But nowadays, you have 5G everywhere. It’s very similar to DeFi—we’re still early, but faster-growing than the Internet back then, regarding user metrics.
The smart move for the regulator here is to work with it instead of against it. I would say many nations see that — for example, Switzerland, I think, is very progressive. Those who are positioning themselves now as a global hub, for example, Hong Kong is pushing very hard, Dubai is trying hard, and the United States is pushing hard.
Many wallets are now launching or reviving token models — MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Rabby. You’ve been testing THORWallet’s token economics with live users. What have you learned about creating real utility while driving monetary value for users?
We have been testing the token economics for four years with live users. The key is to remain a utility token while driving monetary value. How do you manage that legally and technically? I’m very interested in seeing what actual utility they bring.
From native cross-chain swaps to Swiss bank integrations, THORWallet’s approach reflects a growing trend across the industry — redefining how users interact with both decentralized and traditional finance.
At Token2049, one thing was clear: the next wave of wallets won’t just store crypto — they’ll bridge entire financial worlds.
The post THORWallet CEO on Native Swaps and DeFi’s Banking Future appeared first on BeInCrypto.
