Switzerland: Existing legislation will be adjusted to accommodate cryptocurrency regulation

According to Cointelegraph's March 21 report, the Swiss government's legislature, the Federal Parliament, has approved a motion directing the Swiss Federal Council to adjust existing legislation to accommodate cryptocurrency regulation.

(Source: wikipedia )

The motion, proposed by Swiss Liberal MP Giovanni Merlini, was intended to instruct the Swiss Federal Council to amend existing regulations on judicial and administrative authorities so that they can also be applied to cryptocurrencies. The Swiss Federal Council passed the motion with 99 votes in favour, 83 against and 10 abstentions.

The above motion is intended to fill the gap in Switzerland's cryptocurrency users from illegal activities such as extortion and money laundering. It will determine how to contain the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, and whether trading platform entities operating cryptocurrencies should be equated with financial intermediaries to accept regulation in financial markets.

According to reports, Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said after the approval of the above motion that the proposed speed of development related to cryptocurrency has exceeded the scope of the plan.

Just last December, Maurer pointed out that Switzerland should not develop a specific legal framework for blockchain or cryptocurrency, but should adapt existing laws to allow new technologies and their financial applications.

At the same time, in early March of this year, the Swiss-based international banking authority, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), also warned that the strong growth of the cryptocurrency industry may “cause people to worry about financial stability, and then Increase the risks faced by banks." The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision also believes that cryptocurrency assets are “unsafe” from the two main functions of money – trading medium and value storage, which means using “cryptocurrency” to describe this type of Assets are not suitable.

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