Switzerland has emerged as a hotbed of digital currency startup activity, but can it challenge Asia?
Breadwallet, the decentralized iOS wallet and a venture funded startup, recently announced the close of a new funding round, bringing its total investment to $7 million.
Coinciding with the round closure, the company established its global headquarters in Switzerland.
Swiss Tech Rising
«Switzerland has emerged as a hotbed of digital currency startup activity, and we were attracted by its leadership in conservative financial legislation,» said Adam Traidman, CEO of Breadwallet.
«Its strong reputation for financial privacy for consumers is the ideal fit for our charter to empower individuals with the benefits of bitcoin.» Traidman added.
Government Wants a Slice
The Swiss government has thrown its weight behind Switzerland’s growing fintech scene, which is centered on the canton of Zug.
Earlier this year finews.asia travelled with a Swiss delegation including Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer and Joerg Gasser, State Secretary for International Financial Matters (SIF), as well as the top representatives of the Swiss Bankers Association, as they visited Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore.
It became evident to them during their fact finding that Asia was significantly ahead in all aspects of fintech including the acceptance and use of digital currencies.
Asia Out in Front
Asia's fintech infrastructure and daily use is well established with China powering ahead as the most developed financial technology country in the world.
The sheer volume of numbers and the burgeoning middle class will ensure Asia stays ahead in terms of daily use including the acceptance and investment in crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Home Grown Firms
Not unlike Zug based Breadwallet is Singapore based TenX which claims to be the only company worldwide that makes any cryptocurrency spendable anytime anywhere by offering a debit card payment system to its users.
It raised $80 million in its initial token sale in June 2017 and made it to the top 5 Singapore's best funded startups in 2017.
Mind Over Matter
Where the Swiss might see an opening however is in their attention to detail. In the last few months the Swiss fintech scene has been boosted by the arrival of cryptocurrency foundations.
Around a quarter of the $1.2 billion-plus raised by «initial coin offerings» (ICOs) worldwide in the first half of the year was funnelled into Swiss foundations.
Banks Get on Board
Major Swiss institutions such as UBS and Credit Suisse have also been prompted by the Swiss government to get on board to help the country challenge the rise of fintech in Asia and Silicon Valley.
However Switzerland's tight foreign foreign labour laws compared to its global competition could well halt the country's fintech ambitions before they really get off the ground.
