Switzerland’s largest online bank, Swissquote, is planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange early next year to meet clients’ surging demand for digital assets. Swissquote to Launch Crypto Exchange The bank’s sales manager Jan De Schepper shared the company’s plans to roll out a crypto trading platform during an interview with Finews.asia. “We want to enable...Read More
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has greenlighted the Crypto Market Index Fund to be the first cryptocurrency-oriented investment vehicle operating within the country with the proper licensing. According to the Reuters report from earlier on September 29th, the Crypto Market Index Fund will be available to qualified investors only. Switzerland’s financial watchdog said...Read More
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority – FINMA – would reportedly require local digital asset providers to take additional steps in preventing criminals from employing cryptocurrencies. The watchdog would also turn its sight towards bitcoin ATMs as it believes that drug dealers often use these machines. FINMA Targets Criminals Operating with Crypto According to a...Read More
Switzerland’s stock exchange, SIX, said today it had obtained two licenses from the nation’s markets regulator to launch a stock exchange and depository for blockchain-based securities. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the SIX Swiss Exchange is the country’s principal stock exchange that also trades particular securities like government bonds and derivatives such as stock options. According...Read More
The Switzerland-based financial institutions – Crypto Finance Group, InCore Bank, and Inacta – have selected Tezos to create on-chain digital products through a new token standard for asset tokenization. InCore Bank would also enable additional digital services with XTZ – the native cryptocurrency of the blockchain network. Tezos to Power The New Token Standard According...Read More
Switzerland’s Sygnum Bank announced that its customers could use its institutional-grade banking platform to stake ETH for Ethereum 2.0 from their existing wallets. Sygnum’s Pioneering Move Sygnum revealed that it intends to become the first banking institution to provide Ethereum 2.0 staking. In doing so, its clients may be able to earn returns of up...Read More
The Swiss banking giant UBS sounded a note of caution to its customers that regulatory crackdowns can pop the “bubble-like” crypto markets. Furthermore, they said bitcoin might become an unsuitable option for professional investors. Beware of Popping The Bubble In a recent note, the multinational investment bank – UBS Group AG – warned its clients...Read More
21Shares AG, the Swiss-based issuer of cryptocurrency-oriented Exchange-Traded Products, continues with launching such ETPs in Europe. The latest will track the performance of Solana (SOL) and will go live on June 30th on the Swiss stock exchange. SOL ETP Coming to SIX Exchange The company, aiming to close the gap between institutional investors and regulated...Read More
After conducting tests for several months, the Swiss branch of the large Spanish bank – Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBCA) – has announced plans to release two services related to the cryptocurrency industry. According to the official statement, private banking customers based only in Switzerland will have the option to trade bitcoin and other digital...Read More
The Diem Association announced a strategic partnership with the crypto-friendly US bank – Silvergate Bank. Consequently, both parties plan to launch a stablecoin pegged to the American dollar. Additionally, the Association will relocate from Switzerland to the United States. A New Home for Diem The blockchain-based payment system Diem, launched by the social media behemoth...Read More
The trend of giant banks developing crypto services is expanded beyond the US with Switzerland’s UBS Group AG. The institution plans to enable its wealthy customers exposure to digital asset investments later in the year. By citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that UBS Group AG is in the “early stages of planning...Read More
WisdomTree Investments, a NY-based fund manager, has launched a physically-backed Ethereum ETP on two European stock exchanges through its local subsidiaries. This becomes the organization’s second crypto-related ETP released in the past month, after an exchange-traded product following the performance of Bitcoin. WisdomTree’s ETH ETP Live in Europe Headquartered in New York, WisdomTree Investments is...Read More
After releasing physically-backed exchange-traded products tracking the performance of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) earlier this year, CoinShares has expanded its portfolio with the addition of a Litecoin ETP. Litecoin ETP Arrives from CoinShares According to an announcement from April 6th, CoinShares has released another exchange-traded product tracking the performance of a cryptocurrency asset called...Read More
A month after launching a Bitcoin ETP on Switzerland’s SIX Exchange, CoinShares has released a physically-backed exchange-traded product following the performance of the second-largest cryptocurrency – Ethereum. Describing itself as “Europe’s largest digital asset investment house,” CoinShares is a cryptocurrency-oriented manager with over $4 billion in AUM. The company, headquartered in London, announced the launch...Read More
The narrative that bitcoin is rarely used for payment transactions has been debunked by several fields in the span of a week. Apart from Swiss residents being able to pay their canton taxes in BTC or Portuguese citizens paying their electricity bills, a UK-headquartered private jet charter company said that nearly 20% of its yearly...Read More
Residents located in the canton of Zug, one of the 26 cantons in the European country, will be able to use Bitcoin and Ethereum to pay their cantonal taxes as of this week. This comes just months after the canton partnered with Bitcoin Suisse to enable the innovative initiative. CryptoPotato reported the partnership between the...Read More
The world’s first ETP tracking the performance of Polkadot will see the light of day on February 4th, 2021, courtesy of 21Shares AG. The firm will release the product on the regulated Swiss stock exchange and will be fully backed by DOT tokens. 21Shares is a Zug, Switzerland-based company with nearly $500 million in assets...Read More
The cryptocurrency asset manager announced the release of a new Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP), in which every unit will be backed by 0.001 BTC. The custodian will be a joint venture developed by CoinShares, Nomura Holdings Inc, and Ledger. According to a Bloomberg report, CoinShares’ newest Bitcoin-related product will go live today – January 19th,...Read More
Switzerland’s SEBA bank successfully completes a series B fundraiser, giving further merit to the notion that the country is becoming a hub for cryptocurrency business. Another Successful Fundraiser The Swiss start-up bank has officially completed its second stage of capital fundraising. The institution which sells cryptocurrencies to its customers has been planning the Series B...Read More
Japanese financial giant SBI Group and Switzerland’s principal stock exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange, will team up for a new cryptocurrency-related platform to establish institutional connections between Europe and Asia. The New Platform Will Launch In Singapore As per an official announcement, the digital asset-related arms of both companies – SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and SBI Digital...Read More
A new research study by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Swiss National Bank (SNB), and the SIX Digital Exchange touched upon the feasibility of integrating tokenized assets and central bank money. The collaboration termed ‘Project Helvetia’ has demonstrated the functional feasibility and legal robustness of settling tokenized assets with a wholesale CBDC (PoC1),...Read More
A new consultation process on blockchain laws is set to begin in Switzerland. Initiated by the country’s Federal Department of Finance, the operation is focused on initiating a blanket ordinance in the local blockchain and distributed ledger technology environment. For Better Laws In Blockchain Industry A number of parties, individuals, and other interested groups are...Read More
Companies and individuals in Switzerland can now pay taxes up to 100,000 Swiss francs (about $110,000) paid in Bitcoin or Ether. Authorities in Switzerland announced today that it planned to accept premier cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) for tax payments from February 2021 onwards, according to a report from the Associated Press. The decision...Read More
Sygnum, a digital assets bank in Switzerland announced in a release that it enabled the world’s first e-commerce transaction that involved using a stable coin. The transaction took place on the shopping site Galaxus which is one of the biggest retailers in Switzerland. The stablecoin which is known as DCHF or Digital Swiss Franc was...Read More
Switzerland, 4th June 2020. Swiss-based crypto platform Eidoo is upgrading its native utility token into a governance token that will power a new cross-chain DAO. In a collaborative decision by Eidoo and pTokens, the $EDO token will be upgraded into $PNT later this month so that it can be used, staked and earn interest within...Read More
Switzerland’s government has rejected a 100 million franc ($103 million) bailout for local cryptocurrency companies battered by the coronavirus economy, local media reported. Zug finance director Heinz Taennler requested the special funding package in April. He planned to issue out loans to startups, which could be converted into shares. The central government had already unveiled...Read More
As world governments push through legislation to levy taxes on capital gains from bitcoin (BTC) transactions, seeking to earn more from an asset class that frowns on regulatory oversight, there are still a few countries that remain pro-crypto, allowing investors to buy, sell or hold digital assets at zero taxes. Circumstances vary, but the real...Read More
On May 4, 2020, the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis published a three-part series covering a crypto Ponzi scheme, North Korea, and Iran’s use of digital currencies like bitcoin. The company’s research papers discuss the Poland-based crypto Ponzi called Futurenet, a hosting service allegedly tied to North Korea, and how Iran-based exchanges are bypassing OFAC sanctions...Read More
On May 4, 2020, the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis published a three-part series covering a crypto Ponzi scheme, North Korea, and Iran’s use of digital currencies like bitcoin. The company’s research papers discuss the Poland-based crypto Ponzi called Futurenet, a hosting service allegedly tied to North Korea, and how Iran-based exchanges are bypassing OFAC sanctions...Read More
Around half of European countries, over 20, now have 0% interest rates and a few are already in negative territory. Ukraine, which has the highest benchmark interest rate on the continent, has just reduced it again, for the fifth time this year. The race between central banks to cut rates, when there is inflation, has...Read More
