Bitcoin and ICOs are to be regulated by law in Switzerland: a working group should review the requirements by the end of the year.
The Swiss government is scrutinizing cryptocurrencies: by the end of the year, a working group will review the legal framework for the blockchain technology on which these virtual currencies are based. Particular attention should be paid to the so-called Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), as announced at the Ministry of Finance State Secretariat for International Financial Affairs (SIF) announced on Thursday. In the process, companies collect money from investors and issue digital shares (tokens) instead of shares or bonds. These are then traded as cryptocurrency on special stock exchanges.
“The aim of this work is to increase legal certainty, to maintain the integrity of the financial center and to ensure technology-neutral regulation”, as the SIF stated. In addition to the SIF, the Financial Market Authority Finma and the Ministry of Justice are also involved. Last year, the Finma had withdrawn providers who have offered customers via the Internet, the self-invented fake cryptocurrency E-Coin.
Joint proposal for the regulation of Bitcoin
Germany and France want to submit a joint proposal to regulate Bitcoin at the G20 summit in March.
