Switzerland’s financial watchdog, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), announced on Tuesday, September 29, 2021, it had approved the Crypto Market Index Fund. This will be the first crypto investment fund to receive a green light according to Swiss law.
The crypto investment fund was launched by Swiss asset manager Crypto Finance and administered by PvB Pernet von Ballmoos AG, an investment manager, and custody by regulated custodian SEBA Bank AG.
The first Swiss crypto investment fund to receive a green light
The financial regulator made it clear that the Crypto Market Index Fund could only make investments in the leading cryptocurrencies as they had a “sufficiently large trading volume.” As per Crypto Finance, the fund will monitor the efficiency of the Crypto Market Index 10, a product administered by the SIX Swiss Exchange. Crypto Finance said:
“The objective of the Crypto Market Index 10 is to reliably measure the performance of the largest, liquid crypto assets and tokens and to provide an investable benchmark for this asset class.”
Concerning the fund’s potential risks, FINMA explained it approved after closely examining the specific requirements. According to the institution, only established counterparties and platforms under its regulatory scope could process the investments.
Switzerland is leading amongst European countries in crypto adoption
FINMA added that it might require traders to speculate solely using established counterparties primarily based in a member nation of the Financial Action Task Force and are topic to corresponding anti-money laundering rules. The financial regulator’s statement read in part:
“In order to facilitate serious innovation, FINMA applies the existing provisions of financial market laws in a consistently technology-neutral way.”
Switzerland is among the leading European countries in terms of cryptocurrencies adoption. The FINMA has a good track record as far as the approval of similar digital asset initiatives is concerned. Last year, Switzerland’s Canton of Zug enabled locals to pay their taxes in Bitcoin and Ethereum. In a different happening, companies such as CoinShares and 21 Shares have launched multiple exchange-traded products on the SIX Exchange.
Tom is a freelance writer with over 10-years’ experience in content creation, blog writing, and SEO specializing in the blockchain and cryptocurrency niche. As a philosophical figurehead, he believes that to make our world a better place, we must invest in incorruptible products and procedures, of which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are leading examples.
