The Swiss Federal Council continues watch developments around blockchain & DLT closely

 The Swiss are seen to be very crypto-friendly after all it is where the Libra stablecoin will be regulated and set up.

During a meeting held today the  Swiss Federal Council  was informed about the current opportunities and issues associated with stablecoins and cryptos.

The main points  mentioned the Libra,  which is to be overseen by the Geneva-based Libra Association. Due to the stablecoin being backed by a basket of currencies, the volatility should be limited, the Federal Council noted.

FINMA then went on to explain  that in Switzerland, such a massive project would fall under financial market infrastructure regulation. The project would require a payment system licence from FINMA, on the basis of the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FMIA).

Also, another issue may be the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI). These requirements also apply to the management of cyber risks Lastly, also there is a  Swiss payment system that  is automatically subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

So although Switzerland is open to Libra this shows that there is still some work to be done in the area of stablecoins. It will be hard to regulate stablecoins that are decentralized but anything set up in Switzerland will need the proper regulation.