Compromise of the FINMA practice change for staking services
Bern, 21.12.2023 – The Swiss Blockchain Federation (SBF) welcomes the announcement by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which has clarified how staking services for cryptocurrencies are to be handled under financial market law. An announced change in practice had caused uncertainty and strong criticism in the industry.
The Swiss Blockchain Federation’s commitment and willingness to engage in dialogue have now borne fruit. The SBF published a circular on the topic of staking, issued a high-profile media release together with the Crypto Valley Association opposing FINMA’s planned regulation of staking services, pointed out the potential competitive disadvantages of Switzerland as a business location, organised two round tables with all key industry representatives and took part in two exchange meetings with the Swiss Financial Innovation Desk (FIND) and FINMA.
After months of hard work and discussions, a compromise is now on the table that guarantees legal certainty for the players and Switzerland as a blockchain location. FINMA’s requirements for recognising staked assets as safe custody assets (client consent, risk disclosure, clear allocation, BCM) are reasonable and correspond to the status quo for professional service providers. The special issues in connection with custody chains are justified. Finally, it is positive that regulated service providers (SROs) can continue to operate.
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this positive result!
