Swiss regulators support the crypto industry
Switzerland is known for its loyalty to new technologies and interest in blockchain development. Local banks are already European leaders in crypto assets adoption.
At the end of 2019 SEBA, a cryptocurrency bank opened in Switzerland. It was licensed by Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and now its clients can make transactions with both traditional and digital assets, as well as take loans in the cryptocurrency. Shortly afterwards, Julius Baer, SEBA partner and one of the most famous and largest private banks in Switzerland, also supported the cryptocurrency. The bank announced that it was going to provide its clients with a variety of new services in the field of digital assets. As early as March 2020, another local bank, Sygnum AG, launched a Swiss franc-linked stablecoin to simplify the process of investing in crypto assets.
Swiss regulators also intend to provide business users with access to crypto banking services. For example, in June FINMA gave first permission to enter into cryptocurrency transactions with B2B clients. It was given to Swiss bank InCore. Now, this bank can allow institutional clients to buy, sell, and store crypto assets. At the same time, security standards and connections with traditional assets are preserved. Of course, this will further increase investor interest in cryptocurrencies. Blockchain enthusiasts are already predicting the formation of a single European banking system based on a blockchain.
However, the situation is not perfect. Last November, the Swiss Federal Council actively discussed with the crypto community a number of reforms to increase legal certainty in the financial industry. A few days ago, the Federal Department of Finance adopted a policy not to change the law for the blockchain. As analysts have come to the conclusion that the current tax legislation is fully compatible with modern technologies and new financial solutions.
Still, experts agree that Switzerland is gradually becoming a world leader in the field of advanced financial technologies. Several hundreds of profile startups (one of them is #MetaHash) have already been successfully registered in this country, business incubators are actively working and investment in promising blockchain projects is progressing.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
