Swiss Bitcoin App Relai Raises US$12M Funding, Eyes MiCA License for EU Growth

2024-11-11

Cross-border payments often lead to delayed settlements.  As a result, this creates a fragmented view of liquidity positions for companies.
The aim is to increase transparency and security with blockchain-based payments via UBS Digital Cash which should in turn facilitate timely payment processing.
In addition, companies should be able to manage intraday-liquidity and adjust liquidity buffers on their accounts more easily in the future, thanks to greater visibility of their total cash positions.
Andy Kollegger
Andy Kollegger, Head UBS Institutional & Multinational Banking, says:
”UBS Digital Cash going forward aims to enable our clients to make cross-border payments in a much more efficient and transparent way.”
emphasizing:
“Blockchain-based payment solutions for cross-border payments are

2024-11-04

UBS Asset Management has launched its first tokenised investment fund, the “UBS USD Money Market Investment Fund Token” (uMINT), built on Ethereum’s blockchain.
This token offers investors access to institutional-grade cash management solutions backed by high-quality money market instruments within a conservative, risk-managed framework.
The launch is part of UBS’ strategy to use blockchain for better fund issuance and distribution.
UBS recently piloted a tokenised Variable Capital Company (VCC) fund in October 2023 as part of its involvement in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian.
The firm has also issued CNH 200 million in digital structured notes in June 2023 and completed a cross-border digital bond transaction in November 2023.
Thomas Kaegi
Thomas Kaegi, Co-Head of

2024-10-21

In Switzerland, financial institutions are increasingly recognizing the long-term potential of blockchain and integrating the technology into their growth strategies.
According to a new study by the University of St. Gallen, in collaboration with vision& and mintminds, more than 80% of Swiss banks are either planning to develop and actively expanding their blockchain offerings, with a particular focus on cryptocurrencies.
Conducted between April to June 2024, the study polled 19 banks in Switzerland, including retail (47%), private banks (37%), universal (11%) and investment banks (5%) to understand the blockchain strategies, priorities, and challenges these institutions face as they integrate blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets.
The research found that over 60% of

2024-09-30

Swiss equity token specialist Aktionariat AG and securities firm Taurus SA announced a new partnership.
Aktionariat’s tokenization tools and Taurus Digital Exchange (TDX) organized trading facility are natural complements. Under the newly announced partnership, Taurus will support selected shares tokenized with Aktionariat on the Ethereum blockchain and Aktionariat will offer client companies a smooth path towards being admitted to trading on TDX as they grow in market capitalization and match admission criteria.
This collaboration brings together Aktionariat’s expertise in tokenizing Swiss companies’ equity with Taurus’ institutional-grade trading technology. It aims to increase liquidity and unlock value for tokenized SMEs and their shareholders by providing access to TDX’s network of

2024-09-25

In 2023, cryptocurrency fraud continued to surge globally as rising adoption of digital currencies attracted scammers seeking to exploit the hype and target credulous users.
Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received a record of 69,468 crypto-related complaints, a 33.6% increase from 2022’s ~52,000, new data released by the division show. Losses soared by a whopping 45% year-over-year (YoY) to an all-time high of US$5.6 billion.
Though crypto fraud represented only 10% of total financial fraud complains in 2023, it accounted for nearly 50% of total fraud losses, highlighting the disproportionately severe financial impact of these schemes compared to traditional fraud.
IC3 complaints with reference to cryptocurrency, Source: 2023

2024-09-10

Siemens has again issued a digital bond in accordance with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act (Gesetz über elektronische Wertpapiere, eWpG).
This follows the successful issuance of its first digital bond last year. In issuing the bond, the company is supporting the trials by the Eurosystem and the Bundesbank in particular, that are aimed at testing blockchain technology for the digital financial market.
Ralf P. Thomas
“Since the successful issuance of our first digital bond on a blockchain, we have been rigorously focusing on the further development of this forward-looking technology. By issuing another digital bond, we are demonstrating once again our spirit of innovation and underscoring our aim to continuously drive digital solutions for the financial markets. Siemens remains a pioneer

2024-09-04

Ab dem 4. September 2024 können Kundinnen und Kunden über die Zürcher Kantonalbank Kryptowährungen rund um die Uhr direkt im ZKB eBanking oder ZKB Mobile Banking Crypto handeln.
Die Bestände der Kryptowährungen werden dabei in die bestehende Depotsicht integriert. Vorerst stehen Bitcoin und Ethereum zur Auswahl.
Crypto Verwahrung
Kryptowährungen nutzen die Blockchain. Mit den Chancen und Risiken dieser Technologie beschäftigt sich die Zürcher Kantonalbank schon seit Längerem.
2021 war die Bank beispielsweise an der Emission der weltweit ersten digitalen Anleihe an der SIX Digital Exchange beteiligt, 2023 wickelte sie als Joint Lead Managerin im Rahmen eines Pilotprojekts der Schweizerischen Nationalbank die Ausgabe digitaler Anleihen mit digitalem Zentralbankgeld ab.
Alexandra Scriba

2024-08-21

In der Schweiz und Liechtenstein hat sich in den letzten Jahren ein diverses Ökosystem rund um Investitionen in Crypto Assets entwickelt.
Auch in den letzten zwölf Monaten ist dieses stetig gewachsen und hat an Vielfalt hinzugewonnen. Die Regionen Zug und Zürich beherbergen die grösste Anzahl von Unternehmen. Einen aktuellen Überblick gibt die neueste «Crypto Assets Study» der Hochschule Luzern.
Zwischen Juli 2023 und Juni 2024 haben sich die Preise und die Marktkapitalisierung von Bitcoin und anderen Crypto Assets erheblich erhöht. Auch das Schweizer und Liechtensteiner Ökosystem für entsprechende Investitionen ist gewachsen – sowohl, was Anbieter als auch was Produkte angeht.
Ende Juni zählten die beiden Länder insgesamt 359 Unternehmen, die Produkte und Dienstleistungen rund um