Swiss crypto exchange aims for IPO

[ad_1]

Swiss crypto firm Smart Valor recently raised 3 million Swiss francs from investors as part of its public listing plans.

This content was published on October 8, 2021 – 5:17 PM October 8, 2021 – 5:17 PM Matthew Allen

When not covering fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, banking and commerce, swissinfo.ch’s business correspondent can play cricket on various grounds in Switzerland – including the frozen lake of St Moritz.

More from this author | English Department

swissinfo.ch

Co-founder and president Olga Feldmeier told me that the company is considering a range of European exchanges to list on, including Deutsche Brse and Nasdaq First North Growth Market, based in Sweden.

External content

Register! Overview of Swiss blockchain and fintech innovation

Nasdaq First North has already hosted three crypto Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) this year: Coinshares, Safello and Xpecunia. All of these listings were heavily oversubscribed at a time when the cryptocurrency market had seen dramatic price gains.

In April, the U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase caused a stir by raising $ 86 billion by listing on Nasdaq. Smart Valor has a more modest double-digit million target from its proposed IPO.

Feldmeier is convinced that Smart Valor has inflated its balance sheet enough with its last funding round to be successful in most exchanges. But she wouldn’t be drawn to the timing of an IPO.

Blockchain technology, like all other early stage technologies, still has a somewhat mixed reputation today, she said. As an approved stock exchange and custodian, we practice strict corporate governance which helps to earn the trust of our clients. As a bridge between the decentralized economy and consumers, we are in the realm of trust. This goes hand in hand with a public list.

DLT exchange license

Other companies are also eager to escape the sometimes murky shadows of the cryptocurrency industry. Having failed to secure a Swiss banking license earlier this year, Bitcoin Suisse now says it wants to go public in the near future.

Installed in the canton of Zougs Crypto valley in 2017, Smart Valor is also considering a distributed ledger technology (DLT) stock market license in Switzerland. It is a state-of-the-art license. No other country today has created such an advanced regulatory framework for blockchain-based exchanges, says Feldmeier.

As I said in my last newsletter, it was practically impossible to set up a cryptocurrency exchange in Switzerland in the past without a banking license. Smart Valor, Lykke and Swissborg all found it easier to operate elsewhere in Europe despite their headquarters in Switzerland.

Smart Valor operates its asset management business from Switzerland and currently operates exchange services from neighboring Liechtenstein, where it is also applying for a license to issue digital securities.

Free space

More well-known exchanges, like Binance and Bitfinex, have already tried their luck with the Swiss regulator but have decided not to. For a long time, this was a notable empty space for a country that comes by the name of Crypto Nation.

The new Swiss DLT exchange license, unveiled on August 1, now offers another option with the added benefit of being able to trade digital securities to the general public. This could lead to some competition for SIX Digital Exchange, which was licensed last month.

I’ll be exploring the topic of how Switzerland plans to gentrify cryptocurrencies in an article on SWI Swissinfo.ch soon, so be careful.

[ad_2]