Effortless wallet ownership proof ensures compliance without compromising user experience.
The Challenge
Founded in 2020, Relai set out to make Bitcoin investing easy — even for complete beginners. At first, Relai partnered with Swiss broker Bity, which handled the actual order processing. But to become a true one-stop shop for Bitcoin investment, founders Julian Liniger and Adem Bilican decided to internalise brokerage operations.
This shift reclassified Relai as a VASP under Swiss regulations. In turn, they had to meet FINMA’s requirement to verify the ownership of external wallets used for transactions:
“Transactions are only permitted from and to external wallets if these belong to one of the institution’s own customers. Their ownership of the external wallet must be proven using suitable technical means.”
FINMA Guidance 02/2019 Payments on the blockchain
As a lean startup focused on user experience, Relai needed a fully automated solution — one that wouldn’t disrupt the customer journey. With Switzerland among the first countries to enforce such a rule, getting compliance right without sacrificing UX was crucial to staying competitive internationally.
The Solution
To meet FINMA’s requirement, Relai turned to 21 Analytics. With automated wallet ownership proof, the solution ensures compliance without burdening the user or the compliance team.
When a customer initiates a Bitcoin purchase, the Relai app automatically requests ownership verification of the receiving wallet — including external self-hosted wallets — via message signing. Once signed, the transaction is approved seamlessly, without any change to the app’s interface or flow.
According to Adem Bilican, Relai’s CTO, the product was “ready to go out of the box.”
“With such an easy implementation process, it would have been way more costly to build something in-house.”
Relai solved wallet ownership proof for all self-hosted wallets, achieving compliance from day one.
The Results
For Relai, 21 Analytics delivered on two key fronts: seamless user experience and rapid integration.
- Frictionless UX: Ownership proofs happen entirely in the background, ensuring uninterrupted transactions and customer satisfaction.
- Lightning-fast setup: Integration took under two hours, and a requested feature was delivered within 48 hours — live by the following Monday.
Adem Bilican, CTO, Relai
“We want to empower users to do everything on mobile. Connecting hardware wallets to Android smartphones is key — and 21 Analytics makes this outstanding compliance experience possible.”
Key Benefits for Relai
Relai benefited from 21 Analytics’ solution through automated wallet verification that ensured full Swiss Travel Rule compliance, all without disrupting the user experience or requiring manual steps. The integration was completed in just two hours, significantly reducing development costs. The solution also enabled scalable compliance to support Relai’s long-term growth, and a requested feature was delivered within 48 hours, perfectly aligning with the company’s mobile-first vision.