Zurich’s Bankers Make Way for Techies and Bitcoin Startups

On Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich’s main street, a building that once housed a private bank has been turned into a hub for blockchain development. The forces reshaping the economy of Switzerland’s largest metropolis are also exerting a sartorial influence. Fifteen years ago, “I think 80 percent of the men would’ve been wearing a suit and tie. Now it looks different,” with more people dressed casually, says Thomas Meister, general manager of Trust Square, which has 40-odd companies working on crypto applications as tenants.

The gnomes of Zurich—a slang term for Swiss bankers, who share with these mythological creatures a predilection for gold and privacy—are loosening their grip on this city of 430,000. Activity in the financial industry dropped by nearly a fifth in the decade to 2017. The shrinking share reflects more stringent regulation, management scandals, and ultralow interest rates—along with the demise of banking secrecy—all of which have sapped profits and forced a retrenchment.