Tag Archives: 6a.) Bitcoin&Blockchain

Zug-based firm Crypto sold encryption technology to around 100 countries, some of which was manipulated for use by the CIA and German intelligence services. (Keystone / Str) The Crypto leaks scandal continues to shake the Swiss political establishment. The Sunday papers report that some former federal ministers and parliamentarians had ties with the Swiss firm that helped the CIA and German intelligence listen to conversations of foreign powers for decades. As a...

Swiss parliamentarian Georg Stucky (left), who was a board member of Crypto AG, talks to cabinet minister Kaspar Villiger in parliament in Bern in March 1997 (KEYSTONE/Alessandro della Valle) (Keystone / Alessandrop Della Valle) Was former Swiss cabinet minister Kaspar Villiger aware that the Swiss firm Crypto AG was controlled by the CIA? Swiss media say newly released CIA documents support this claim, but the ex-defence minister vehemently denies it. The CIA...

(Keystone / Urs Flueeler) The Swiss government has opened an investigation into a decades-old spying affair involving Swiss firm Crypto, following reports by Swiss public broadcaster SRF, German broadcaster ZDF and The Washington Post. The government confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into the reports that Crypto, a Zug-based communications encryption firm, was secretly used by the CIA and West German intelligence services for decades. The...

Creating money may soon look entirely different in the digital age. (Keystone / Lm Otero) Central banks are contemplating a response to alternative money systems, such as bitcoin or Libra, with new digital versions of their own currencies. They go by the name of Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDCs. Libra’s stablecoin project launched in Geneva last year was a “watershed” moment that “kicked everyone in the pants”, Michael Sung, a professor at Fudan University,...

Zermatt is a regular haunt for well-heeled international winter sports lovers. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) The iconic ski resort of Zermatt has become the second local authority in Switzerland to allow residents to pay their tax bills using the cryptocurrency bitcoin. Zermatt, which lies in the shadow of the Matterhorn mountain, said on Tuesday that it will allow people living there to pay the whole range of taxes in bitcoin with no limit on the amount they...

Switzerland has no plans to launch a centralised Swiss franc version of bitcoin. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) Switzerland has ruled out the possibility of a central bank-issued digital franc for the general public in the foreseeable future. The government has backed up the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) fears that this would lead to financial instability. Responding to a parliamentary question, the Federal Council on Friday said an ongoing project to produce a...

Swiss lawmakers have been tasked with getting the new furniture to fit into the financial and corporate landscape. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) The Swiss parliament will soon get to grips with merging the current financial system with new blockchain architecture. This is a bit like refitting your whole house to make sure the swanky new furniture and fittings blend in. Switzerland has deliberately chosen to not to tear the whole house down and build it again in a new...

Blockchain is tipped to bring efficiencies to the financial system – and beyond. (© Keystone / Ennio Leanza) Proposed updates to the banking, corporate and financial infrastructure laws to accommodate Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) have been broadly welcomed by Switzerland’s growing blockchain industry. Parliament is now set to debate the wide-ranging set of proposals presented by the governmentexternal link on Wednesday. The government’s intentions were first...

Blockchain promises to touch many parts of our lives, but how do we touch it? Blockchain: the very name fascinates and bamboozles in equal measure. Although businesses based around the technology are popping up all over Switzerland, many still wonder what exactly it does and how it can improve their lives. The potential possibilities are myriad, yet many still appear tantalisingly out of reach. After asking readers to pose their questions about blockchain, we’ve...

The number of financial firms servicing crypto enthusiasts is growing in Switzerland. Singapore-based crypto financial services company Matrixport is setting up a European operations centre in Switzerland. Matrixport has close links to the Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain, which is simultaneously winding down its Swiss presence. Matrixport joins a growing band of Swiss-based players, such as Bitcoin Suisse, Crypto Finance, Sygnum and SEBA banks, that are...