46,900 new Swiss companies in 2020. Over 52,000 in 2024. The annual total barely moved. What changed underneath is the actual story for founders.
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The GmbH stayed the default: CHF 20'000 capital, fully paid, one shareholder allowed. Close to two of three new entries we file...
By Q3 2026, half of regulated stablecoin issuers will find their AML programme stops at the mint. The sanctions risk does not.
Anchorage just backed Treasury's GENIUS AML rules, then asked the obvious question: who is liable for secondary-market activity?
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GENIUS treats pa...
A House of Lords committee just told the FCA and Bank of England that the UK trails both the US and the EU on stablecoins — and that draft rules risk killing the market first.
The US has the GENIUS Act. The EU has MiCA, live since June 2024. The UK has a consultation.
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The...
MiCA started applying to crypto firms in December 2024. France just set the comply-or-stop date: 30 June 2026. The transitional runway most providers banked on got a lot shorter.
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A French PSAN/DASP registration doesn't auto-upgrade to a MiCA licence. You file a full CASP d...
46,842 new Swiss companies in 2020. A record ~51,700 in 2024. The total grew, but the real story is the mix: GmbH and sole proprietorships took most of it.
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Why the GmbH wins: CHF 20'000 minimum capital vs the AG's CHF 100'000 (CHF 50'000 paid in). Founders choose by what t...
Swiss founders ask us AG or GmbH almost every week. The honest answer fits in one line: capital versus privacy.
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AG: CHF 100'000 nominal, CHF 50'000 paid in. Shareholders not public. Shares transfer by endorsement.
GmbH: CHF 20'000, fully paid. Members named in the public r...
Switzerland passed its DLT Act in 2021. The US still has no tokenization rule in 2026. The SEC just delayed the exemption that was supposed to close that gap.
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The sticking point: third-party tokens. When a platform tokenizes a security it did not issue, who is the issuer o...
OFAC just sanctioned six Ethereum addresses tied to a Sinaloa Cartel laundering network. The second an address hits the SDN list, touching it is a violation, not a red flag to investigate later.
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Strict liability is the part firms miss. You do not get to argue you did not k...
The CLARITY Act gives crypto the federal rulebook it spent years asking for. It also hands spot-market oversight to @CFTC: roughly 700 staff against the SEC's ~5,000. The rulebook is clear. The agency writing the tickets is short-staffed.
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Spot-market surveillance is new wo...
Regulators say the UK payments network is ready for tokenisation. The catch: round-the-clock settlement does not arrive until 2031. The FCA and Bank of England roadmap is a five-year build, not a switch.
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Timeline: Sept 2027, CHAPS settlement starts at 1:30 a.m. and overlap...
First time we have seen it: a crypto firm holding a MiCA licence AND a full EMI in one entity. Zerohash Europe just became the template for stablecoin operators in the EU.
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Why it matters: MiCA treats most fiat-backed stablecoins as e-money tokens. Issuing or redeeming them...
Forming a Swiss AG or GmbH is fast. The legal steps take about two weeks. What founders underestimate is the bank account sitting behind them.
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GmbH: CHF 20,000, fully paid. AG: CHF 100,000, at least CHF 50,000 paid in. The capital sits in a blocked account until the Commer...
Everyone picks Zug for its 11.85% corporate rate.
For groups above EUR 750M revenue in 2026, that number is fiction. The OECD 15% minimum tops it up, and Switzerland keeps the difference. 🇨🇭
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The 2026 spread that still matters:
Lowest: Zug 11.85%, Nidwalden ~11.97%, Lucer...
The CLARITY Act advanced this week. Bitcoin broke below $78,000 anyway.
A favourable law did not stop the drop. Macro pressure and crowded positioning overran the catalyst in hours. Regulatory clarity is not market structure.
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The tell was in the options book. Traders boug...
After 15 years structuring Swiss VASPs, this is the first sovereign offering bank accounts inside the licence.
Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City: accelerated licensing, pre-arranged banking, zero corporate tax for regulated crypto firms. 🇧🇹
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The banking hook is the real st...
CME and ICE reportedly briefed the @CFTC and Capitol Hill on Hyperliquid, the on-chain perpetuals venue. The framing is manipulation and sanctions risk. The subtext is order flow.
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A DEX cannot register with the CFTC because there is no legal entity to register. So "manipul...
HashKey Research: the U.S. CLARITY Act will cement USD stablecoin dominance globally. But stricter yield rules push institutional capital toward Asian markets where regulated yield products already exist.
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The split: USD wins payments. Asia wins yield. Hong Kong's stablecoi...
After fifteen years advising Swiss custodians, the pattern is clear: DeFi is rebuilding itself for the institutional vault. Cardano is the latest L1 chasing this market.
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Multi-sig treasury accounts. Policy-based approvals. Audit trails. API access. Operational continuity w...
52,776 new companies registered in Switzerland in 2024. 46,842 in 2020. Five consecutive record years. The "Switzerland is too expensive" thesis has been falsified.
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Zug went from 4,019 new entities in 2020 to 4,800+ in 2024. Crypto Valley firm count crossed 1,290, most und...
Everyone is watching the CLARITY Act fast-track to July 4. The banking lobby is running a quieter play. Markup hits the House Financial Services and Agriculture committees next week.
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The deposit-flight argument is recycled from the 2024 stablecoin draft. ABA and Bank Polic...