Switzerland Licenses First Crypto Asset Fund Manager – ThirtyK

Switzerland, long known as the land of Alps, neutrality and private bank accounts, wants to become a cryptocurrency haven, too.

To that end, Swiss regulators have licensed Crypto Finance AG to become an asset manager and thus manage and distribute domestic and foreign cryptocurrency funds while advising investors. On its website it claims to be the first crypto company in the country to be so licensed.

“The importance of crypto assets is growing and our aim is to accelerate maturity in these markets,” Chief Executive Officer Jan Brzezek said about the move by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. “FINMA authorization is an important acknowledgment of Crypto Fund and for crypto assets around the world.”

The license allows the company, whose CEO is a former UBS Group banker, to cater to a wider group of professional investors managing crypto funds in Switzerland.

With cryptocurrencies coming into the mainstream, regulators have been working overtime to scrutinize them as well as crypto funds and exchanges. Becoming licensed, thus, “raises the bar,” according to the company.

Crypto Fund is based in Zug, the Swiss town that has been working hard to become the nation’s “crypto valley.”