The Swiss Federal Council decides to adapt the current Financial Regulation to include cryptocurrencies



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Swiss lawmakers have recently voted in favor of including cryptocurrencies in an adapted form of the financial regulation in force in the country. The vote was introduced by lawmakers concerned about the illegal use of anonymous cryptographic currencies, which could change the regulatory landscape of digital badets in Switzerland's "cryptographic valley".


Switzerland's recent vote on the regulation of cryptography explained

The Swiss Federal Council officially voted 99-83 (with 10 abstentions) to adapt its current financial regulation to cryptocurrencies.

The vote proposed that the "existing procedural instruments of the judicial and administrative authorities" be adjusted "so that they can also apply to cryptocurrencies".

The motion was presented for the first time by the free Swiss Democrat Giovanni Merlini (FDP / TI).

Merlini would have advocated amended legislation to minimize the harmful use of cryptocurrencies. He has stated publicly that anyone can create cryptocurrency with anonymous users, which can then be used to support criminal activities.

With anonymous functions, says Merlini, cryptocurrency becomes the preferred instrument of extortion and money laundering.

The draft resolution proposed by Merlini also sought further clarification regarding the regulation of cryptocurrency trading platforms. Whether or not these platforms are regulated in the same way as "other financial intermediaries" is not entirely clear at this stage.

The possible change of the "crypto valley" in Switzerland

Switzerland has the well-known reputation of being a respectful jurisdiction for crypto. This is particularly the case in the city of Zug – often called the "Crypto Valley" – where many cryptographic companies and various "foundations" are domiciled.

However, several controversies have recently surfaced with cryptographic companies based or having links with Switzerland.

Tezos, which has offices in Zug, has seen numerous investor lawsuits.

Envion, an environmentally friendly mining project based in part in Switzerland, did not succeed after the dissolution of the company by a judge. The decision was made after the raising of nearly 100 million US dollars from more than 30,000 investors under an initial offer of coins (ICO).

The problem of the unlawful use of anonymous crypto-currencies is however not limited to Switzerland.

French lawmakers have recently called for mandatory identification requirements for users of digital goods.

Similar requirements could also reach the United States, where the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, has repeatedly said that almost all of the ICOs he's seen – minus Ethereum – constitute securities.

They must therefore respect the laws in force on the securities of the commission.

The resulting situation has been the emergence of security tokens, a digital badet that explicitly declares title status. Security tokens transparently respect their respective laws, while using distributed ledger technology.

Many believe they will bring unprecedented levels of liquidity to financial stocks, a traditionally illiquid badet clbad worth more than $ 500 trillion.

What do you think of the recent vote of the Swiss Federal Council? What does the future of digital badet regulation look like in Switzerland? We would like to know what you think in the comments section below.


Image reproduced with the kind permission of My Switzerland.

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