While some banks have started experimenting with blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT), widespread migration to these systems are unlikely to occur due to a number of roadblocks, including regulatory and compliance challenges, the high costs of the endeavor, as well as uncertainties about the long-term benefits and potential disruption of the technology on existing business models, Benjamin Müller, an advisor on banking operations for the Swiss National Bank (SNB), said during an industry event last month.
At the Digital Monetary Institute symposium, held on May 10 and 11 in London, Müller took part in a panel discussion that brought together top executives representing Banque de France, Goldman Sachs, Clifford Change and SNB. The panel discussed asset tokenization, the

The Canton of Zug is increasing the transaction limit for tax payments with the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ether from CHF 100,000 to CHF 1.5 million with immediate effect. This measure will facilitate access to digital means of payment and meet the increasing needs of Zug’s population and companies.
Heinz Tännler
“We are proud that the Canton of Zug has been a pioneer in the use of cryptocurrencies for years. With the increase in the transaction limit, we are setting another example of the acceptance and spread of this innovative payment method,”
says Finance Director Heinz Tännler.
Since the introduction of crypto payment options, tax payments with a total volume of around CHF 2 million have been settled in Bitcoin and Ether in around 150 transactions in the canton of Zug. Due to the

The USA is dominant in the cryptocurrency venture capital (VC) game, representing more than 71% of the total amount of capital under management from the top 50 crypto-focused VC funds, a new report by Coinstack Partners, a boutique investment bank for crypto and Web 3.0 companies, shows.
Global crypto VC by city – Top 50 firms, Source: The Crypto VC List 2023, Coinstack, March 2023
The report, which looks at VC funding activity in the crypto space, reveals that US crypto funds are now managing more than US$42.4 billion worth of assets of the total US$59.6 billion under management from the top 50 crypto-focused VC funds. The figure makes the US the biggest VC investor in the crypto space, well ahead of other prominent locations such Hong Kong, the UK and Singapore.
Looking at the world’s

Frankfurt School of Finance Center and its Blockchain center designed a new four semester long post-experience master program (MSc) last year. The Frankfurt School’s goal is to provide the expert knowledge necessary to students looking to shape and lead blockchain innovation around the globe and in all industries.
Technical and economical understanding on the topics of blockchain, digital assets (including Bitcoin and Ethereum), DeFi, Web3, tokenization, smart contracts, NFTs, financial technology, metaverse, digital euro, CBDCs, legal frameworks and entrepreneurship are part of the curriculum that is taught in seven block weeks and further deepened during the students’ master thesis. Application deadline is autumn 2023, and lectures will commence in October 2023.
During the study program,

Technological advancements, including biometrics, blockchain, encryption and artificial intelligence (AI), are fueling the advent of more efficient and secure authentication mechanisms.
New methods and trends including passworldless authentication are already seeing significant traction from customers, which perceive them as not only more convenient than traditional authentication methods but also more reliable, a study by Entrust, an authentication specialist, found.
The Future of Identity Report, released in March, shares findings of a global survey of 1,450 consumers across 12 countries, aiming to shed light on the identity market and identify emerging trends.
While passwords have traditionally been the most popular means of primary authentication, results from the study show that they

London-based regtech firm Ondato has launched an expanded Know Your Business (KYB) solution to give local and international organisations operating in Poland automated tools for fully compliant business customer onboarding.
The extended coverage provides complete data about Polish entities, including the latest sanctions lists.
This enables online banks, Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), credit institutions, cryptocurrency marketplaces, gambling services companies, legal and audit advisors, and more to verify the legal status and compliance of customers in Poland
Unlike KYC, which addresses consumer onboarding, KYB processes analyse business customers’ data and information to prevent sanctions breaking, fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing.
They make it harder for

The Swiss crypto exchange SMART VALOR and the financial intermediary SweePay has partnered to ensure that the purchase of cryptocurrencies at Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) ticket machines is simple, smooth and secure.
Since 2016, it has been possible to buy crypto at the 1,500 (expected number of ticket machines as of 2023) ticket machines of the SBB.
At the SBB ticket machines, users will receive their Bitcoin in a secure paper wallet when they buy the crypto. They will need to enter the desired amount (between CHF 20 and CHF 500), input their mobile phone number and confirm the TAN sent to the machine. The machine then prints out the paper wallet with the crypto amount purchased.
Additionally, SMART VALOR and SweePay have also enabled the purchase of crypto at Valora Holding’s sales

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has shared how it intends to “future-proof” the domestic payment ecosystem, outlining its ambition to leverage technologies and processes including tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to establish an “efficient, reliable and secure ecosystem” that’s geared towards “the future of cashless payments in Switzerland,” SNB governing board member, Andréa Maechler, said during an event on March 30, 2023.
The payment system is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by ongoing digitalization and the increasing use of new technologies, Maechler told the audience in her speech at the semi-annual Money Market event. These are enabling new forms of money and are fundamentally changing the way people make payments.
Thomas Moser and Andréa Maechler at

By 2030, affluent clients with assets of EUR 100,000 and up will have access to a highly diversified range of alternative assets comprising private debt, venture capital (VC), real assets, and more. They will benefit from highly personalized financial plans and advice, enabled by automation technology and data analytics. Additionally, advanced digital platforms and features like portfolio aggregation will provide them with a more frictionless experience.
These are the three main trends outlined in Wealthtech Radar 2023, a paper produced by German wealthtech software provider Fincite. The paper, which draws on insights from more than 20 experts organizations such as InVenture Capital, the University of Munich, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, Sprengnetter Gruppe and Morningstar,

InCore Bank can now offer Ethereum staking capabilities that are fully compliant with Know-Your-Client (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulations to their clients.
In this collaboration, InCore Bank provides crypto brokerage, banking operations and custody services, while SDX Web3 provides crypto custody and non-custodial-staking services.
The Zurich-based private bank Maerki Baumann launched its crypto strategy in 2019. Apart from corporate accounts for companies focusing on blockchain technology and crypto applications, it offers services in crypto trading and custody in collaboration with InCore Bank. Maerki Baumann will continue to expand its crypto offering by making the new Ethereum staking services available to its private and corporate tech banking clients.
Mark Dambacher

PostFinance partners with Sygnum, the world’s first digital asset bank, to offer its customers a range of regulated digital asset banking services via Sygnum’s B2B banking platform.

PostFinance’s partnership with Sygnum Bank enables the launch and ongoing expansion of regulated, bank-grade digital asset products and services for its customers
PostFinance’s customers will be able to buy, store and sell leading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum
Sygnum’s B2B offering empowers partner banks with a fast, cost-efficient market entry with innovative, regulated and compliant products

PostFinance has analyzed its customers’ investment needs and uncovered a strong demand for digital investment services. By leveraging Sygnum’s B2B banking platform, PostFinance will seamlessly integrate

Global financial technology company Broadridge Financial Solutions announced that UBS and a global Asian bank have successfully executed a cross-border intraday repo transaction on its blockchain-enabled platform.
This intraday trade marks the launch of the next phase in the rollout of Broadridge’s Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform.
This platform provides a utility where market participants can agree, execute, and settle repo transactions, providing flexible settlement cycles based on counterparts’ needs.
The DLT Repo platform significantly increases settlement velocity and collateral mobility, thus making intraday possible. The platform also reduces the operating cost and risk of all repo activity, including well as overnight and term repos.
Beatriz Martin
“Intraday repo is a

Instant payments are scheduled for rollout in Switzerland in the summer 2024, opening up new opportunities in payment transactions, digital commerce and customer experiences. But the new standard will also put pressure on banks’ lucrative card businesses and will cost financial institutions a stiff amount in implementation, industry experts warn.
Starting August 2024, all banks operating in Switzerland and processing over 500,000 payments per year will be required to implement the new standard and be able to receive instant payments, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has mandated. In an initial phase, these real-time transfers will be capped at CHF 20,000.
The second phase will require all participants in the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) network to be able to receive and execute real-time

CV Labs, the international ecosystem builder of blockchain venture capital firm CV VC, announced the fifth batch of its global blockchain business accelerator.
Nine startups were selected from over sixty countries for the Batch_05 based on the impact and utility that their solution will bring.
The CV Labs Accelerator provides each participant up to US$135,000 capital, access to other capital avenues, one-on-one mentorship, and customised growth hacks for blockchain entrepreneurs.
Participants will also benefit from the infrastructure of the broader Crypto Valley ecosystem which is counted as the most mature blockchain hub globally with over 1000 entities operating within the most favorably regulated system. Many of them are located in CV Labs’ hi-spec office space.
The accelerator will

Despite slumping markets, the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry continued to grow last year, driven by sustained funding activity and increased user adoption.
In 2022, DeFi users growth averaged 44% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), according to a report by crypto fund HashKey Capital. In Q3 2022, the industry reached a milestone, surpassing the five million DeFi wallet threshold.
This growth came amid sustained support from investors in the cryptocurrency sector. In 2022, DeFi companies raised a total of US$2.71 billion in funding, almost triple the US$930 million raised in 2021 and over 41 times the US$65 million raised in 2020, data from crypto data aggregator CoinGecko show.
As interest in and usage of DeFi continue to grow, a number of young ventures are rising to fame on the back of

Shift Crypto, der Schweizer Hardware-Wallet-Hersteller, geht eine Partnerschaft mit Pocket Bitcoin ein.
Pocket Bitcoin ist ein Schweizer Bitcoin-Broker, der die einfachste Möglichkeit bietet, Bitcoin direkt auf die eigene Wallet zu stacken. Beide Unternehmen haben ihren Sitz in der Schweiz und verfolgen das gemeinsame Ziel, den Zugang zu und die Verwahrung von Bitcoin einfacher und sicherer zu machen.
Die Unternehmen arbeiten zusammen, um eine günstigere, noch einfachere und sicherere Möglichkeit zu bieten, regelmäßig Bitcoin zu kaufen. Pocket Bitcoin bietet bereits einen einfachen DCA-Service an. Die Hardware-Wallet BitBox02 ermöglicht es Nutzern, Bitcoin sicher aufzubewahren und einfach zu transferieren. Ihr Code ist vollständig quelloffen, einschließlich der dazugehörigen BitBoxApp, die

Relai, die Schweizer Bitcoin-App, gibt eine Investitionsrunde in Höhe von 4,5 Millionen US-Dollar bekannt, die von ego death capital angeführt wird. Weitere Investoren sind Timechain, Cabrit Capital und Lightning Ventures. An der Investitionsrunde beteiligten sich auch der Hauptinvestor von Relai, Redalpine, und der Seed-Stage-Investor Fulgur Ventures, die beide erneut investierten.
In Juni 2021 hatte Relai deren Series A (2.5Mio CHF) abgeschlossen und letzten Mai auch via Crowdfunding von der Community weitere 2.1Mio CHF beschafft.
Julian Liniger
“Der aktuelle Bärenmarkt ist der perfekte Zeitpunkt, um sich auf das Wesentliche zu konzentrieren: ein erstklassiges Produkt zu entwickeln, ein nahtloses Benutzererlebnis zu bieten und Menschen über Bitcoin als die beste Spar-Technologie, die je

Siemens is one of the first companies in Germany to issue a digital bond, in accordance with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act.

Cybersecurity technology company OneSpan has inked a deal to acquire Australia-based blockchain technology provider ProvenDB for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is anticipated to close during the first quarter of 2023 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

In 2022, cryptocurrency money laundering reached a new record, with illicit addresses sending US$23.8 billion worth of crypto, a figure which represents a 68% year-on-year (YoY) increase, new data from Chainalysis, an American blockchain analysis firm, show.
Total cryptocurrency laundered by year, 2015-2022 Source: Chainalysis, Jan 2023
Just under half of the funds sent from these addresses traveled directly to centralized exchanges, making these services the biggest recipients of illicit crypto, the report says.
Mainstream centralized crypto exchanges are critical services for money laundering, helping criminals turn their crypto into cash. This is despite being among the most heavily regulated crypto services, and being required to have compliance measures in place to report illegal

Sports sponsorship deals from financial services and fintech companies alike have increased significantly over the past three years on the back of rising competition in the industry and amid hopes for increased brand awareness and exposure.

ABN Amro became the first bank in the Netherlands to register a digital bond on the public blockchain, using Fireblocks. The digital bond was issued to a select group of investors to raise funds on behalf of APOC, an ABN Amro commercial client in the aerospace industry.

Wrapped around the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the CryptoSummit.ch will kick off on Monday, 16th January 2023 at the Hyatt Circle Conference Centre at Zurich airport. The second day of the event is set to take place on Friday, 20th January 2023 in Davos.

The theme of CryptoSummit.ch 2023
The theme of the CryptoSummit.ch 2023 is regaining trust in crypto and advancing technology.
It is set to open with the keynote from Charles Hoskinson, the Founder of Cardano Foundation, followed by a broad series of topics throughout the day, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum evolution, layer 2 scaling solutions, Defi, Web 3 and applications in the banking industry. Investors may be interested in topics like the crypto market outlook in 2023, the best investment strategies in a bear

Fintech News Switzerland would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
We will be taking a break from the 23rd December 2022 to the 2nd January 2023.
Until then, you can access some of our year-end articles that may be of interest to you. We look forward to seeing you all again on the 3rd January 2023!
Crypto Winter Wipes Out 72,000 Bitcoin Millionaires in 2022

BIS: New Global Bank Standards for Cryptoassets

IFZ Insurtech Study: European Insurtech Industry Increased 20% This Year

The Swiss Fintech Worldcup Football Team 2022

Swiss Universal Banks Top Digital Performance Ranking Ahead of Neobanks and Challengers

The post Year End Message to Our Readers – Offline From 23rd December to 2nd January appeared first on Fintech

UBS has closed the first tokenized debt transaction for Asia Pacific investors, underlining its commitment to expand regional investment opportunities. UBS AG London branch issued USD 50 million in digital fixed rate security tokens (‘digital securities’) using blockchain technology to a series of high net worth and global family and institutional wealth investors across Hong Kong and Singapore.

Over the past year, governments and regulatory bodies from around the world have increased their focus on the taxation of the cryptocurrency industry, a trend that comes on the back of increasing investment, adoption and innovation in the space despite collapsing prices and high profile business failures, a new report by consulting firm PwC says.
PwC’s 2022 Global Crypto Tax Report, released earlier this month, looks at the state of crypto taxation globally, exploring emerging trends and key developments that have occurred over the past year.
According to the report, 2022 has been marked by increasing tax regulation targeting the crypto sector, a trend that was prompted by major steps being taken by governments and international bodies like the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and

Together with their partners Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Swisscom and Clarafinds, eForesight has revised the Swiss Fintech Map and expanded the database as well as deleted some old and inactive players.
The main business area categories contain now 130 Swiss Investment Management Fintechs, 106 Banking Infrastructure Fintechs, 48 Deposit&Lending Fintechs and 55 Payment Fintechs. On top of that, the fintechs in the main categories on the map were sorted into technology clusters such as Big Data (84), Process Digitization (135) and DLD Blockchain (102).
The map was also cleaned up, which means inactive Swiss Fintechs were deleted from the map. This means for 2023 the new count starts now with 339 Swiss Fintechs, about 32 Fintechs less than the previous months.

 
Check

The European Investment Bank (EIB) — in collaboration with Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, Santander and Société Générale — launched Project Venus, their second euro-denominated digitally native bond issue and first using private blockchain technology.

Despite a global venture capital (VC) pullback, shrinking valuations and public market turmoil, Germany’s blockchain VC funding market remained stable this year, with companies in the space securing a total of US$218 million across 20 deals year-to-date (YTD), just US$37 million short of 2021’s US$255 million, a new report by CV VC, a Swiss VC and private equity firm specialized in cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions, shows.

A.P. Moller – Maersk  and IBM announced the decision to withdraw the TradeLens offerings and discontinue the platform.
Starting immediately, the TradeLens team is taking action to withdraw the offerings and discontinue the platform, and the intent is that the platform will go offline by end of quarter one, 2023. During this process all parties involved will ensure that customers are attended to without disruptions to their businesses.
Maersk will continue its efforts to digitise the supply chain and increase industry innovation through other solutions to reduce trade friction and promote more global trade.

“We are deeply grateful for the relentless efforts of our committed industry members and many tech talents, who together have worked diligently to advance the digitalisation of the

Crypto comparison website Bitstacker conducted a study which found that there was a 70% drop in Bitcoin millionaires in November 2022 when compared to January 2022 due to the ongoing ‘crypto winter’.
72,000 Bitcoin holders were no longer millionaires due to the drop in BTC prices from US$46,208 at the start of 2022 to US$15,759 at the time of the study in November.

Austrian crypto platform Bitpanda has received a full operating license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority or BaFin for the custody and proprietary trading of crypto assets.
Bitpanda claims to be the first European retail investment platform to obtain the license which was introduced by BaFin in 2020, allowing it to actively market and offer services in the German market.
Founded in 2014, Bitpanda now has nearly four million investors on its platform.

In 2022, the Portuguese fintech ecosystem entered a new stage of development, marked by greater maturity of the sector, continued innovation through partnerships and a dynamic venture capital (VC) market, a new report by industry trade group Portugal Fintech, in collaboration with KPMG, Visa and law firm Morais Leitao, claims.
The Portugal Fintech Report 2022, released in October, shows a resilient fintech industry that has continued to grow, innovate and attract investors’ interest in 2022, despite falling tech stocks and concerns about an economic downturn.
This year, total funding to Portuguese fintech companies to date surpassed the EUR 1 billion mark, with blockchain and cryptocurrency, lending and credit, and regtech and cybersecurity attracting the most funding. These segments

BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset managers, has been actively investing in the fintech industry over the past decade, participating in large rounds of financing across a broad range of segments, from payments and lending, to wealthtech and cryptocurrency, a new analysis by fintech-focused research firm WhiteSight shows.

UBS has launched the world’s first digital bond — a CHF 375 million three-year bond with 2.33% coupon — that is publicly traded and settled on both blockchain-based and traditional exchanges.

Online trading platform Swissquote is now connected to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), allowing clients to invest in and trade DFM-listed securities.
The platform is connected to the DFM through GTN Middle East and BHM Capital Financial Services’ direct market access route, and is expected to boost DFM-listed securities’ accessibility to investors outside the UAE.
Swissquote is a provider of online financial services granting its clients access to trade a range of asset classes including stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, derivatives and more.

The company launched a cryptocurrency exchange called SQX earlier this month and previously partnered with Postfinance to launch digital banking app Yuh in mid-2021.

“Given our local and international client base, providing direct access to the growing

Swiss neobank neon’s crowdfunding campaign reached CHF 5 million of its CHF 10 million target with more than 2,000 investors participating on the first day of the campaign.
The campaign, which runs from October 25 to 31, is offering two to 250 non-voting shares priced at CHF 200.00 per share. The company aims to sell a total of 50,000 shares.
According to the campaign page, neon’s recent milestones include hitting 130,000 users, generating CHF 3.5 million in revenue year to date, and launching new card and community features.

The company says that it expects to reach CHF 6 million in sales by the end of the year, and that it plans to move into stock and cryptocurrency trading next.
neon shared that it also raised CHF 2.5 million in funding from institutional investors in September.
The

German neobank N26 has launched its cryptocurrency product in Austria to enable customers to buy and sell 194 cryptocurrencies in their app.
The N26 Crypto feature will be made available progressively to eligible customers in Austria over the coming weeks, as well as in other key markets over the next six months.
The launch addresses strong local demand, where internal research showed that 40% of N26 users are either actively trading, or have expressed interest in investing in cryptocurrencies.

N26 Crypto is offered in partnership with Austrian cryptocurrency platform Bitpanda, which manages the execution of trades and custody of coins.
N26 Metal customers will be able to make transactions with a 1% transaction fee applied for trading Bitcoin and 2% for all other available

Wealth managers around the world are still reluctant to invest in cryptocurrency on behalf of their clients amid concerns over the lack of regulation, the lack of education as well as high volatility, a new study by American asset management company Mercer found.

Swiss Bitcoin investment app Relai has partnered with global payments provider Checkout.com to enable its users to buy the cryptocurrency via Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay in real time through its self-custodial wallet.
The partnership with Checkout.com is expected to allow users to have constant access to instant liquidity while also ensuring that they have full say over what happens to their assets.
Founded in 2020, Relai currently serves over 40 countries in Europe, has over 100,000 app downloads, 30,000 active users, and CHF 6 million in monthly volume.

The startup last raised a CHF 2.5 million Series A round in mid-2021 and recently made the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Awards 2022.
Checkout.com is a London-based payments solutions provider with a US$40 billion valuation. The company

SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) announced the addition of SIX SIS to its Central Securities Depository (CSD), making it the first regulated CSD to have direct access to SDX.

Online trading platform Swissquote has launched a cryptocurrency exchange called SQX that aims to provide a more competitive and secure trading environment.
Unlike other crypto exchanges, SQX says that it prides itself on being a centralised trading platform as it believes that currency markets function on the back of long-standing bilateral relationships.
As such, Swissquote added that SQX’s new central order book, which sources and aggregates liquidity from different liquidity hubs, will allow it to source the best liquidity conditions from decentralised crypto markets — resulting in more competitive bid and ask prices.

The Bancor Network Token (BNT) will be available on SQX in the initial phase and other cryptocurrencies available at Swissquote will be added gradually. Clients will

The University of Zurich and ETH Zurich ranked third and 27th respectively on CoinDesk’s latest annual best universities for blockchain rankings.
The rankings were made from a shortlist of 240 institutions around the world, calculated based on their scholarly, industrial and pedagogical impact on blockchain.

Metrics that were taken into account included the institutions’ blockchain research publications, courses, degrees, conferences, clubs and industry partnerships or grants.

The rankings also took into account the institutions’ reputations, where their graduates get jobs, and other measurements from publicly available sources.
The University of Zurich moved up the rankings this year from fourth to third place, while ETH Zurich dropped from 10th place to 27th place.
The École

Digital money app Revolut has been approved by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer cryptocurrency products and services in the country.

Coinbase has secured regulatory approval from the Dutch central bank as a crypto service provider, allowing it to offer its full suite of retail, institutional, and ecosystem products to customers in the country.

Digital asset trading technology provider Portofino Technologies has raised over US$50 million in equity funding from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Coatue to scale its technology across the full crypto infrastructure value chain.
The company, founded by former Citadel Securities executives Leonard Lancia and Alex Casimo, builds high-frequency trading (HFT) grade technology for institutions and Web3 projects that require digital asset liquidity.
Portofino says that it has traded billions of dollars across centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency venues and hired a team of 35 HFT specialists globally in the past year.

Leonard Lancia, CEO and Founder at Portofino said:
“This is only the start for Portofino. In Web3, every action is a transaction and we’re building the

Access to the metaverse is complex and expensive, which is why it is so far used almost exclusively by large companies. The Zurich and Verbier-based PR agency Rent a PR, which has been providing on-demand public relations and communications consulting for five years and has been accepting Bitcoin payments since 2019, is setting another milestone with cooperation and press conferences in the metaverse.

Crypto solutions provider 21.co has raised a US$25 million round led by Marshall Wace at a US$2 billion valuation, making it Switzerland’s largest crypto unicorn. The round, which included investors, such as Collab+Currency, Quiet Ventures, ETFS Capital and Valor Equity Partners was the company’s first raise in over two years.

Business executives are bullish on the prospect of the metaverse, predicting sizeable commercial opportunities in taking part in immersive virtual environments. But despite the high level of interest, industry stakeholders are also growing increasingly concerned over the possible risks brought about the concept.

SDX Web3 Services, the newly launched business unit from SIX Digital Exchange, is now live with its non-custodial Ethereum staking service.

Hackers and cybercriminals are exploiting vulnerabilities found in cross-chain bridge protocols to siphon billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies out of wallets and smart contracts, a new report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis claims.
A total of 13 separate cross-chain bridge hacks have been recorded so far, netting criminals about US$2 billion, according to the firm. Most of these attacks took place this year, showing that the trend is proliferating and becoming a top security risk in the crypto industry.
Attacks on bridges account for 69% of total funds stolen in 2022 so far, totaling around U$1.4 billion, estimates Chainalysis. The biggest single event was the US$615 million haul snatched from the Ronin bridge in March 2022. Ronin is an Ethereum sidechain developed for

After a record year 2021, the venture capital (VC) market for blockchain investment is slowing down significantly in 2022 amid uncertain macroeconomic conditions and financial markets turmoil. In Q2 2022, VC investors scaled back cryptocurrency investments due to macroeconomic pressures, concerns about valuations and market volatility.

CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, announced it plans to further expand its cryptocurrency derivatives offering with the introduction of Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures on August 29, pending regulatory review.

CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, announced it plans to further expand its cryptocurrency derivatives offering with the introduction of Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures on August 29, pending regulatory review.

Starting this week on Instagram, Meta is testing digital collectibles with select US creators and collectors to share NFTs that they have created or bought. Meta/Instagram started with the international expansion to 100 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.

Asset manager BlackRock has selected cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase to provide the institutional clients of Aladdin®, BlackRock’s end-to-end investment management platform, direct access to crypto starting with bitcoin.
Coinbase Prime will provide crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities to Aladdin’s institutional client base who are also clients of Coinbase.

JAROWA is a Swiss digital marketplace and transaction platform for insurance companies, property managers, and leasing companies to manage their trusted service providers and digital orders more efficiently. JAROWA has successfully closed its Series A funding round, led by Eos Venture Partners, a strategic venture capital fund focused on InsurTech. The proceeds will be used to further expand JAROWA’s offering throughout Europe.

DIC Corporation, one of Japan’s leading fine chemical manufacturers, is launching a pilot project which seeks to utilize blockchain technology and crypto tokens to improve transparency in plastic recycling and help it meet its environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

Despite claims of immutability and decentralization, cryptocurrencies and public blockchains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, are not quite delivering on their promises and are seeing a concentration of power in the hands of a few players.

This year’s cryptocurrency crash, which saw the market lose more than half of its value in the span of six months, is threatening to bring sports sponsorship deals to a halt as crypto companies look to cut costs.

In recent years, Switzerland’s blockchain and digital asset ecosystem has matured rapidly and grown into one of the world’s leading blockchain hubs, a position that’s asserted by its expanding workforce and a rising number of foreign companies setting up operations locally.

FIFA has teamed up with Zug based blockchain technology company Algorand to agree a sponsorship and technical partnership deal. The agreement means Algorand will become the official blockchain platform of FIFA and provide the official blockchain-supported wallet solution.

The Swiss Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and Elevandi announced the programme and speaker line-up for the inaugural Point Zero Forum, taking place on 21-23 June in Zurich, Switzerland. Elevandi is a Company Limited by Guarantee (GLC) created by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to manage the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF).

Around the world, fraudsters are turning to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach billions of potential victims. As losses continue to pile up, regulators are voicing their concerns, with one going as far as suing a social media giant for not taking sufficient steps to tackle the rampant issue.

Binance, a global blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, announced the opening of its space in at the startup campus STATION F in Paris.

2021 was a blockbuster year for the global blockchain sector, which saw funding activity surge, trading volumes balloon and further growth in key segments including custodians, exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi), as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, a new report by Swiss blockchain-focused investment company CV VC, in collaboration with PwC Switzerland, says.

Technological advances and evolving customer expectations are changing the financial landscape, stimulating fintech development and innovation. To keep up with the burgeoning fintech industry, top-quality fintech events are being organized on a regular basis to educate attendees on the latest trends and enable professionals to build meaningful connections.

Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions has collaborated with Bitcoin company NYDIG to launch the Bitcoin Risk Assessment. The Risk Assessment evaluates a financial institution’s control environment related to its participation in the NYDIG Bitcoin platform.

Wecan Group SA, a Swiss Blockchain software provider used  Swiss private banks, is favoring an expansion in France for its internationalization. Behind this choice: an investment from Michel Reybier, owner of La Réserve hotels, and a selection in the Swave program, an initiative of the French government to attract the most promising fintechs in France.

Blockchain technology is yielding tremendous innovation and value creation for consumers and businesses around the world. As the technology becomes more mainstream, companies need scalable, secure, and sustainable infrastructure on which to grow their businesses and support their networks. Google Cloud believes it can play an important role in this evolution.
Building on their existing work with blockchain developers, exchanges, and other companies in this space, Google Cloud announced a new dedicated Digital Assets Team within Google Cloud to support our customers’ needs in building, transacting, storing value, and deploying new products on blockchain-based platforms. This new team will enable our customers to accelerate their efforts in this emerging space and help underpin the

Blockchain-based data-sharing platform Spring Labs announced that is bringing TransUnion’s identity and credit data on-chain to help accelerate Web 3 and DeFi adoption.

SEBA Bank, a digital assets firm with a Swiss banking license from FINMA, announced that it has raised CHF 110 million in a significantly oversubscribed Series C funding round.

As investors increasingly incorporate digital assets into their portfolios, the crypto custody landscape continues to grow and mature. As of late-2021, around US$230 billion worth of digital assets, or about 9% of the total US$2.5 trillion cryptocurrency market, were being stored on the technology solutions of eight crypto custodians, separate research by The Block Research and Blockdata found.

BBVA Switzerland, the Swiss franchise of Spanish multinational financial institution BBVA, has expanded its cryptocurrency custody and trading service with the addition of Ether to its investment portfolio.
Its private banking clients and new gen customers will now have access to both Bitcoin and Ether, a statement from the company said.

A digital programmable euro is essential for innovative business models in Germany, according to the Frankfurt School Blockchain Centre (FSBC).

Bitcoin Capital has expanded its crypto asset offerings by launching two new crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Tangany has received a license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) as the third regulated service provider for the custody of digital assets in the country to provide crypto custody business. Furthermore, Tangany plans to apply for further licenses in Germany and Europe in the future and has already received preliminary permission from BaFin to manage registers of crypto securities.

American cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase announced that it has committed to invest US$500 million of its cash and cash equivalents into a diverse portfolio of crypto assets. Coinbase added that going forward, it will also allocate 10% of quarterly net income into this same portfolio.

US-based neobank MoneyLion announced the launch of its new cryptocurrency capabilities, enabling customers to buy and sell digital currencies within its app. MoneyLion said that eligible customers will initially be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as round-up their debit card purchases in Bitcoin.

Blockchain-based invoice factoring platform Hiveterminal announced that it has expanded to the DACH region as part of its Europe growth plans. Hiveterminal aims to start cultivating relationships with Swiss-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who need fast and continuous access to liquidity without going through the hassle of applying for bank financing.

Not only does bitcoin fail to satisfy the notion of being a currency without a government, but the cryptocurrency is also not a reliable inflation hedge nor a safe haven investment, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a probability researcher and former quantitative trader, says in a recent paper.

With digital payments picking up pace across the globe, social media giant Facebook is extending its payment services to online retailers. Shopify has become the first e-commerce platform to sign up for Facebook Pay. This will allow Shopify merchants to offer Facebook Pay as a payment option during checkout, eliminating the need to re-enter payment information for every transaction.

Visa revealed that its customers had spent more than US$1 billion on its crypto-linked cards in the first half of 2021. The payments giant reported that it had partnered with 50 leading crypto platforms on card programmes that make it easy to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide.

UEFA and AntChain, the blockchain business of Ant Group, announced a five-year global partnership around blockchain technologies and to jointly explore how blockchain technology can be used to further the digital transformation of football industry and improve the experiences of fans around the world.

Cryptocurrencies have been all the rage this year with total market capitalization surging 132% since the beginning of the year. Given this crypto frenzy, it is quite remarkable how some of the top marketcap ranking firms have eluded  mainstream attention.

Zurich-based FQX secures $4.7M in seed funding to scale their revolutionary eNoteTM infrastructure. Earlybird led the round with participation of SIX Fintech Ventures, the non-strategic corporate venture arm of SIX, and the unicorn founder Carsten Thoma.

ETC Group, a specialist provider of digital asset-backed securities, has announced that it will list its physically backed Ethereum and Litecoin cryptocurrency ETCs on the Swiss Stock Exchange SIX.

There are 56 fintech billionaires around the world who combine a total net worth of US$327.7 billion, data curated by Finextra based on Forbes’ 2021 World’s Billionaires list show. These represent some of the world’s biggest and most successful fintech companies in the world including Ant Group, PayPal, Stripe and Klarna.

Swiss banking group Swissquote announced that it is expanding its cryptocurrency offering with nine additional ones.

Societe Generale announced that it has issued its first structured product as a security token directly registered on the Tezos’ blockchain network.

Delta Exchange, a UK-based institutional-grade crypto derivatives exchange, announced that it has closed a US$ 5 million token raise from existing and new investors where Swiss venture firm Blockchain Valley Ventures (BVV) backed and advised the former on their token raise.

PayPal announced the launch of Checkout with Crypto, where US customers will be able to choose to check out with crypto seamlessly. Building on the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal, customers using Checkout with Crypto can check out safely and easily, converting cryptocurrency holdings to fiat currency, with certainty of value and no additional transaction fees.

Bitpanda, an Austrian digital investment platform dealing with cryptocurrency, announced that it has closed it Series B funding round with an investment of $170 million and attained unicorn status with a valuation of $1.2 billion.
The funding round was led by Valar Ventures with participation from partners of DST Global. Bitpanda had also previously secured $52 million during its Series A from Valar Ventures.
The Series B was signed last week and is currently in the necessary approval process of the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).
Bitpanda said in a blog post that it would be using the new funding to expand its team which currently has 350 staff members to around 600.
The company has already expanded into France, Spain, Turkey, Italy and Poland in 2020 and will enter additional

Bitcoin’s recent price surge has accelerated institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies leading to institutional investor pouring an estimated US$26 billion into bitcoin over the past eight months, an analysis by SNGLR Group shows.

In Europe, Switzerland, Estonia, Malta and Cyprus have the most advanced and mature blockchain ecosystems with well-developed startup scenes and high levels of regulatory maturity, a paper by the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum says.

Switzerland is home to 130 startups that are applying blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to finance use cases, new data from Swisscom show. Most of these companies (48%) operate in the banking infrastructure vertical, followed by investment management (24%), and payments (21%).