SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Oliver Widmer and Niku Gholamalizadeh, Pestalozzi
nevertheless be affiliated with an SRO. Where the blockchain-based company does not hold a FINMA licence, FINMA may only supervise blockchain-based businesses indirectly via the SRO. The SRO is responsible for monitoring its members’ compliance with Swiss AML regulation encompass- ing, inter alia, AMLA and the SRO’s rules and regu- lations. Beyond SROs, a number of trade associa- tions are active in the Swiss blockchain ecosystem. These bodies have no supervisory powers but can participate in legislative consultation processes and publish non-binding best practice standards, such as the CMTA’s Digital Assets Custody Standard and AML Standards for Digital Assets. 1.2 Crypto-Assets 1.2.1 Property Considerations Under Swiss law, digital assets are generally not sub- ject to traditional property law but follow their own rules. Only ledger-based securities, rights that can only be exercised and transferred via a securities ledger, have been explicitly regulated under the 2021 DLT Act. The DLT Act does not explicitly answer the general question as to when the transfer of ledger-based securities is final. Signing a blockchain transaction with a private key can constitute a transfer of owner- ship, though in many cases the transaction is only deemed valid after a validation or staking process. For ledger-based securities, a disposal is legally bind- ing toward third parties if it became irrevocable under the distributed ledger’s rules and was entered into the ledger within 24 hours. The use of digital assets in collateral arrangements is permitted under Swiss law, with general collateral provisions applying. The DLT Act specifically allows a lien over ledger-based securities to be established without transferring them, provided the collateral is visible in the ledger and only the security taker can dispose of the asset in the event of default. 1.2.2 Access to Banking There are no specific legal restrictions in Switzerland on the banking or payment partners that crypto-asset firms may use. Subject to the fulfilment of customary
AML requirements, crypto-asset services are free to work with any kind of general banking and payment service providers. 1.2.3 ESG/Sustainable Finance ESG requirements in Switzerland apply equally to digi- tal asset firms. FINMA’s focus is currently on climate- related financial risks, seeking to specify the risk man- agement requirements for institutions with regard to climate and other nature-related financial risks. FINMA’s Circular 2026/01 on nature-related finan- cial risks is now in force, clarifying its supervisory practice on the management of climate- and other nature-related financial risks. It applies to banks and licensed entities operating with digital assets. Addi- tionally, the Ordinance on Mandatory Climate Disclo- sures, in effect since 1 January 2024, requires large public companies, banks and insurers to implement Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, covering climate-related risk disclosure and greenhouse gas reduction targets. 1.2.4 Tax Currently, neither a digital service tax nor any other specific tax legislation applicable to blockchain-based business models or the use of cryptocurrencies has been or is expected to be introduced in Switzerland. Tax laws are, in principle, applied on a technology- neutral basis. A development in tax transparency is underway. Following the OECD’s publication of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and updated Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the Federal Council submitted a dispatch to Parliament in February 2025 to implement both frameworks in Swit- zerland, which was approved. This will extend Swit- zerland’s automatic exchange of information regime to crypto-assets for the first time, ensuring they are treated on the same basis as traditional financial assets, and will expand the reporting obligations for crypto-asset service providers accordingly. However, the implementation is still pending. More generally, the Federal Tax Administration’s work- ing paper (2019, updated in 2021) clarifies the treat- ment of tokens for income, withholding and stamp tax purposes, distinguishing between payment, asset and utility tokens. Tokens are generally treated as assets
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