Switzerland's finance regulator approved the country's first crypto asset manager. The landmark move illustrates how digital assets are breaking through to traditional finance.
Crypto Fund said it has clinched an asset manager license from Swiss regulator Finma, in a statement on Tuesday.
This means the subsidiary of Crypto Finance, run by former UBS banker Jan Brzezek, is on equal footing with other fund managers in Switzerland, and can pitch for business outside of the country.
Bridge to «Old» Finance
The move is a breakthrough in Switzerland's nascent crypto scene, where providers like Seba are rushing to build bridges between traditional finance and blockchain technology underpinning the token providers which have rushed to the alpine nation.
«The Finma authorization for Crypto Fund is a key step for our clients and investors, and for us in becoming a leading provider of digital asset services worldwide,» CEO Brzezek said in a statement. He called the regulatory nod an acknowledgement from official Switzerland for crypto assets.
Bern is Receptive
The fund arm already won a fund license in June. Since then, a group of backers unveiled the launch of Seba, which aims to be the first licensed crypto bank (although Seba has already raised roughly $100 million, it doesn't expect to clinch a bank license before next summer).
The moves show that Switzerland's regulator, which is part of a government group evaluating the country's stance on cryptocurrencies, will continue its generally welcoming stance on digital assets. Nevertheless, Swiss finance has to compete with a smaller, nimbler rival next door, as finews.com reported.
Several scandals haven't dented enthusiasm in official Switzerland – or «crypto nation,» as economics minister Johann Schneider-Ammann called it in January – for attracting cryptocurrency and blockchain firms. Firms are increasingly seeking recognition from regulators in order to ease their way into finance.
