Is Crypto Legal in Switzerland?

FINMA is Switzerland's integrated financial market supervisor (FINMASA Art. 6): it licenses banks, FinTech licence holders, securities firms and DLT trading facilities, supervises AML compliance, and issued the ICO Guidelines (2018) and the stablecoin guidance (06/2024).

Financial intermediaries under AMLA Art. 2(3) without a FINMA licence, the usual route for smaller crypto businesses, must join one of the 10 FINMA-recognised self-regulatory organisations (AMLA Art. 14(1)), which include VQF, SO-FIT, AOOS, PolyReg and ARIF.

The DLT Act (Federal Act of 25 September 2020 on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, AS 2021 33) amends ten federal acts, introducing ledger-based securities, DLT trading facilities and the segregation of crypto-based assets in bankruptcy; it entered into force on 1 February and 1 August 2021.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 10 October 1997 (AMLA/GwG, SR 955.0) sets identification, due-diligence and suspicious-activity reporting duties for financial intermediaries, including crypto service providers; the travel rule itself rests on AMLO-FINMA Art. 10 as applied by FINMA Guidance 02/2019.

The Financial Institutions Act of 15 June 2018 (FinIA, SR 954.1), in force since 1 January 2020, licenses portfolio managers, trustees, managers of collective assets, fund management companies and securities firms (Art. 2(1)).

The Banking Act of 8 November 1934 (BA, SR 952.0) governs banking and FinTech licences, while the separate Financial Market Infrastructure Act of 19 June 2015 (FMIA) governs DLT trading facilities; the former securities dealer licence is now the securities firm licence under the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA Art. 41).

Switzerland has no single crypto or VASP licence: by activity, firms need SRO membership under AMLA Art. 14, a FinTech licence (deposits up to CHF 100 million, minimum capital at least CHF 300,000), a banking licence (minimum capital CHF 10 million), a securities-firm licence (FinIA Art. 41) or a DLT trading facility licence (FMIA Art. 73a).

Crypto-based assets that a bank or securities firm undertakes to hold available for a custody client, and that are attributable individually or by a clear co-ownership share, are treated as custody assets segregated from the bankruptcy estate (BankG Art. 16 no. 1bis, inserted by the DLT Act, in force 1 Aug 2021); FINMA Guidance 01/2026 (12 Jan 2026) covers custody risks.

Crypto exchange activity in Switzerland falls under existing licences by function: SRO membership under AMLA Art. 14 for financial intermediation only, a banking or FinTech licence for client deposits, a FinIA securities-firm licence for trading securities for clients, or a DLT trading facility licence under FMIA Art. 73a.

FINMA's crypto guidance includes Guidance 04/2017 on ICOs (29 Sep 2017), the ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) and their stablecoin supplement (11 Sep 2019), Guidance 02/2019 on payments on the blockchain (26 Aug 2019), Guidance 06/2024 on stablecoins (26 Jul 2024) and Guidance 01/2026 on custody of cryptobased assets (12 Jan 2026).

Depending on the activity, a crypto project may need a FINMA banking licence or FinTech licence (BankG Arts. 3, 1b), a securities-firm licence (FinIA Art. 41) or a DLT trading facility licence (FMIA Art. 73a); since FinIA took effect on 1 Jan 2020 there is no securities dealer licence.

FINMA supervises AML compliance of banks, FinTech licence holders, securities firms and other Art. 2(2) AMLA intermediaries; crypto businesses that are financial intermediaries only under AMLA Art. 2(3) are supervised by a FINMA-recognised self-regulatory organisation they must join (AMLA Arts. 12, 14). Swiss law has no separate VASP category.

FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) define payment tokens (cryptocurrencies) as tokens intended to be used, now or in the future, as a means of payment for goods or services or for money or value transfer; they give rise to no claims on their issuer, for example Bitcoin and Ether.

Payment tokens are not treated as securities, but issuing or managing them and providing payment services make a firm a financial intermediary under AMLA Art. 2(3); without a FINMA prudential licence it must join a recognised SRO (AMLA Art. 14(1)). Switzerland has no stand-alone AML licence.

FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) define utility tokens as tokens intended to provide digital access to an application or service by means of a blockchain-based infrastructure.

Utility tokens are not treated as securities if their sole purpose is to confer digital access rights and they are usable that way at issue; if a utility token also or only has an investment purpose, FINMA treats it as a security (ICO Guidelines, 16 Feb 2018).

FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) define asset tokens as tokens representing assets such as a debt or equity claim on the issuer, for example a share in future earnings or capital flows, making them economically analogous to equities, bonds or derivatives.

Asset tokens that qualify as securities are subject to the FinSA prospectus rules for public offers (Arts. 35–36), to FinIA securities-firm licensing for professional trading for clients (Art. 41) and, if pooled for collective investment, to the Collective Investment Schemes Act (Art. 7).

FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) recognise hybrid tokens that combine features of the payment, utility and asset categories; the requirements for each category apply cumulatively.

For hybrid tokens FINMA applies the requirements of every relevant category cumulatively, so a utility token that also has an investment function is treated both as a security and under the rules for its other functions (ICO Guidelines, 16 Feb 2018).

The DLT Act's official German title is 'Bundesgesetz vom 25. September 2020 zur Anpassung des Bundesrechts an Entwicklungen der Technik verteilter elektronischer Register' (AS 2021 33), in English the Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology.

The DLT Act entered into force in two stages: the Code of Obligations provisions on ledger-based securities on 1 February 2021, and the remaining provisions, including DLT trading facilities and crypto-asset segregation in bankruptcy, on 1 August 2021.

The DLT Act aims to create legal certainty for tokenised assets and DLT trading venues without a special DLT law: it amends ten existing federal acts (AS 2021 33).

The DLT Act introduced ledger-based securities (Registerwertrechte, CO Art. 973d): rights entered in a securities ledger that, by agreement of the parties, can be asserted and transferred only through that ledger, giving a legal basis for natively digital shares and bonds.

Since 1 August 2021, crypto-based assets that a bank has undertaken to hold available for the client at all times, and that are attributed individually or by identifiable share, are treated as custody assets segregated in the bank's bankruptcy (BA Art. 16 no. 1bis); a parallel claim for surrender exists in general bankruptcy (DEBA Art. 242a).

The DLT Act created a licence for DLT trading facilities under FMIA Art. 73a: commercially operated facilities for multilateral trading of DLT securities that may also hold them centrally or clear and settle trades; besides supervised firms, other natural and legal persons may participate directly on their own account (FMIA Art. 73c(1)(e)). FINMA licensed the first DLT trading facility on 18 March 2025.

The DLT Act of 25 Sep 2020 amended BA Art. 1b, in force 1 Aug 2021, so that FinTech licence holders may accept designated crypto-based assets as well as public deposits up to CHF 100 million, provided they neither invest them nor pay interest.

Since 1 February 2021, a company's articles may provide that its shares are issued as ledger-based securities (Registerwertrechte) under CO Art. 973d (CO Art. 622(1), as amended by the DLT Act).

Transfer of a ledger-based security is governed by the rules of the registration agreement (CO Art. 973f(1)), and the right can be transferred only through the securities ledger (CO Art. 973d(1)).

The Financial Market Infrastructure Act of 19 June 2015 (FMIA, SR 958.1) regulates stock exchanges, multilateral trading facilities, central counterparties, central securities depositories, trade repositories, payment systems and, since 1 August 2021, DLT trading facilities (Art. 2(a)).

The Banking Act (SR 952.0) applies to banks and bars non-banks from professionally accepting public deposits (Art. 1(2)); Art. 1b extends it to FinTech licence holders. Securities dealers left the Banking Act framework when FinIA entered into force on 1 Jan 2020, and are now licensed as securities firms under FinIA Art. 41.

The Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading Act of 24 March 1995 (SESTA) was repealed by the Financial Institutions Act in force since 1 January 2020; trading venues are now governed by the FMIA, securities firms by FinIA Art. 41, and the offering of financial instruments by the Financial Services Act (FinSA).

The Collective Investment Schemes Act (KAG, SR 951.31) covers assets raised from investors for collective investment and managed for their account (Art. 7(1)); FINMA Guidance 06/2024 notes that stablecoin holders' claims can qualify as collective investment schemes rather than bank deposits.

The Financial Institutions Act (FinIA, SR 954.1), in force 1 Jan 2020, governs portfolio managers, trustees, managers of collective assets, fund management companies and securities firms (Art. 2(1)), all of which need FINMA authorisation (Art. 5(1)).

AMLA covers anyone who professionally accepts, holds or helps transfer third-party assets (Art. 2(3)), which captures crypto exchanges, custodians and transfer services; FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 February 2018) treat the issuing of payment tokens as issuing a means of payment subject to AMLA.

Crypto service providers that are financial intermediaries under AMLA must identify clients and beneficial owners (Arts. 3-4), clarify unusual or higher-risk transactions (Art. 6), keep records (Art. 7), maintain organisational measures including training and controls (Art. 8), and report suspicions to MROS (Art. 9).

Switzerland applies the travel rule to crypto transfers through FINMA Guidance 02/2019 (26 August 2019): AMLO-FINMA Art. 10 requires originator and beneficiary information with every payment order, with no minimum threshold and no exception for unhosted wallets.

A public offer of asset tokens that qualify as securities requires a FinSA prospectus unless an Art. 36 exemption applies (FinSA Art. 35, in force 1 Jan 2020); trading them professionally for clients requires a FinIA securities-firm licence (Art. 41), which replaced the securities dealer licence cited in FINMA's 2018 ICO Guidelines.

FINMA's FinTech fact sheet says no banking licence is needed for accepting crypto-based assets if each client's assets are stored on individual blockchain addresses; collective custody of crypto-based assets, or deposits up to CHF 100 million, requires a FinTech licence (BA Art. 1b), and larger deposit-taking requires a banking licence.

Depending on their activity, crypto trading platforms may need a banking or FinTech licence (client deposits), a FinIA securities-firm licence (trading securities for clients, Art. 41), or a DLT trading facility licence under FMIA Art. 73a; FINMA's list shows one licensed DLT trading facility, Seturion AG, as of 14 Oct 2026.

FINMA's 11 Sep 2019 supplement to the ICO Guidelines treats stablecoins by economic function ('substance over form') under the principle 'same risks, same rules', so money-laundering, securities-trading, banking, fund-management and financial-infrastructure rules can all apply; FINMA Guidance 06/2024 (26 Jul 2024) adds rules for issuers using bank default guarantees.

The FinTech licence (BA Art. 1b, in force 1 Jan 2019) covers firms that professionally accept public deposits up to CHF 100 million or designated crypto-based assets without investing them or paying interest; FINMA lists 6 FinTech licence holders as of 14 Oct 2026.

FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) set the minimum information FINMA needs to answer market participants' enquiries on whether an ICO or token project falls under supervisory law, and the principles for its answers; the guidelines do not describe these answers as no-action letters.

FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) supervises under FINMASA and the financial market acts (FINMASA Art. 6(1)) and authorises banks, FinTech licence holders, securities firms, insurers, collective investment schemes and other financial institutions.

FINMA grants five types of authorisation (licensing, recognition, authorisation, approval and registration), and the intensity of supervision varies with the type.

FINMA licenses the financial institutions defined in the financial market acts, including banks and FinTech licence holders (Banking Act), portfolio managers, trustees, managers of collective assets, fund management companies and securities firms (FinIA Art. 2(1)), and financial market infrastructures; crypto custody is supervised within these licences (BA Art. 16 no. 1bis; FINMA Guidance 01/2026, 12 Jan 2026).

Accepting public deposits professionally requires a FINMA banking or FinTech licence (BankG Arts. 1(2), 1b, 3), and portfolio managers, trustees and other FinIA institutions need FINMA authorisation (FinIA Art. 5); crypto businesses that only act as financial intermediaries under AMLA Art. 2(3) need SRO membership (AMLA Art. 14), not a FINMA licence.

Swiss minimum capital is CHF 10 million for banks (BankV Art. 15(1)) and, for FinTech licence holders, 3% of accepted deposits and collectively held crypto-based assets but at least CHF 300,000 (BankV Art. 17a(1)); Switzerland has no separate payment-institution or e-money licence, and foreign-controlled banks may be subject to reciprocity (BankG Art. 3bis).

Portfolio managers and trustees act professionally, and need FinIA authorisation, if in a calendar year they earn gross revenue above CHF 50,000, have more than 20 contracting parties, or hold unlimited power of disposal over third-party assets exceeding CHF 5 million (FinIO Art. 19(1)); they must be supervised by a supervisory organisation (FinIA Art. 7(2)).

FinTech licence holders under BA Art. 1b, who may accept up to CHF 100 million in public deposits or designated crypto-based assets, must hold minimum capital of 3% of the deposits and collectively held crypto-based assets accepted, and at least CHF 300,000 (BankV Art. 17a(1)); Switzerland has no VASP-specific capital rule.

Stablecoin issuers whose holders have repayment claims generally accept deposits and need a banking or FinTech licence, unless a bank default guarantee under BankV Art. 5(3)(f) applies, in which case they need only SRO affiliation (FINMA Guidance 06/2024, 26 Jul 2024).

On 22 Oct 2025 the Federal Council opened consultation, until 6 Feb 2026, on a FinIA amendment creating a crypto-institution licence for crypto-asset services, with criteria based on those for securities firms but less comprehensive; FinIA as consolidated on 1 Oct 2026 contains no crypto-institution category.

The Federal Council consulted from 22 Oct 2025 to 6 Feb 2026 on a Financial Institutions Act (FinIA) amendment introducing payment instrument institutions and crypto-institutions; FinIA as consolidated on 1 Oct 2026 contains neither category.

FINMA Guidance 06/2024 states that AMLA is almost always applicable to stablecoin issuers, which must verify the identity of every stablecoin holder and the beneficial owner (AMLA Arts. 3-4); FINMA treats anonymous stablecoin transfers as prohibited, applying the CDB 20 bearer-savings-book ban by analogy.

FINMA Guidance 01/2026 (12 Jan 2026) covers the risks of custody of cryptobased assets; FINMA Guidance 06/2024 (26 Jul 2024) covers stablecoin issuers and guarantor banks, and the 12 Jan 2026 release does not describe 01/2026 as superseding it.

Under AMLA Art. 3 financial intermediaries must identify every contracting party; FINMA Guidance 02/2019 permits transfers to or from external wallets only where the customer's (or a verified third party's) ownership of the wallet is proven by technical means.

The State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) leads Swiss DLT and stablecoin policy, including the Financial Institutions Act consultation of 22 Oct 2025; the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) issues federal practice on crypto taxation, covering direct federal tax, withholding tax and stamp duties.

A bank needs a FINMA licence before starting business and may not be entered in the commercial register until it is granted (BankG Art. 3(1)); the minimum capital is CHF 10 million, fully paid in (BankV Art. 15(1)).

Switzerland has no CASP or VASP registration with FINMA: crypto businesses that are financial intermediaries under AMLA Art. 2(3) and hold no FINMA licence must join a FINMA-recognised self-regulatory organisation (AMLA Art. 14(1)); FINMA's list shows 10 recognised SROs as of 14 Oct 2026.

Swiss financial intermediaries must identify the contracting party (AMLA Art. 3), establish the beneficial owner (Art. 4), and clarify the background of unusual or higher-risk transactions and relationships (Art. 6).

AMLO-FINMA Art. 20 requires financial intermediaries to monitor business relationships and transactions effectively so that increased risks are identified; banks and securities firms must run an IT-based transaction-monitoring system.

FINMA cannot impose fines. It can withdraw licences (FINMASA Art. 37), confiscate profits from serious breaches (Art. 35) and ban managers for up to five years (Art. 33); criminal fines under FINMASA are prosecuted and judged by the Federal Department of Finance (Art. 50(1)).

The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA/GwG, SR 955.0, of 10 October 1997) imposes identification, beneficial-owner, documentation and reporting duties (Arts. 3-9) on financial intermediaries, including crypto service providers that professionally accept, hold or help transfer third-party assets (Art. 2(3)); such non-bank intermediaries must join a recognised self-regulatory organisation (Art. 14), while banks and other Art. 2(2) institutions are supervised for AML by FINMA (Art. 12).

On 12 November 2020 FINMA announced an amendment to its Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance lowering the client identification threshold for cryptocurrency exchange transactions from CHF 5,000 to CHF 1,000; the rule (AMLO-FINMA Art. 51a) has applied since 1 January 2021.

The DLT Act (Federal Act of 25 September 2020, AS 2021 33) adapts ten existing federal acts to distributed ledger technology instead of creating a stand-alone crypto law; its main provisions came into force on 1 August 2021.

Swiss financial intermediaries must identify the contracting party when one virtual-currency transaction, or several that appear linked, reach or exceed CHF 1,000 (AMLO-FINMA Art. 51a(1)); for cash or other anonymous payments, technical measures must prevent linked transactions exceeding that threshold within 30 days (Art. 51a(1bis)); transfers to external wallets require proof of the customer's ownership by suitable technical means (FINMA Guidance 02/2019).

AMLA Art. 6 requires financial intermediaries to clarify the background and purpose of a transaction or business relationship that appears unusual or carries increased risk; relationships with foreign politically exposed persons and their close associates always count as increased-risk (Art. 6(3)), and the frequency of controls follows the client's risk (Art. 6(1)).

Swiss financial intermediaries, including crypto service providers, must verify the identity of the contracting party from a document of evidentiary value when opening a business relationship (AMLA Art. 3(1)) and establish the beneficial owner (AMLA Art. 4).

AMLA Art. 8 requires financial intermediaries to take the organisational measures needed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, in particular adequate staff training and controls; AMLO-FINMA Art. 20 requires effective monitoring of business relationships and transactions, with an IT-based monitoring system for banks and securities firms.

Financial intermediaries must keep the records of transactions and AML clarifications, including client identification and beneficial-owner documents, for at least ten years after the business relationship ends or the transaction is completed (AMLA Art. 7(3)).

Swiss financial intermediaries must periodically review client documentation for currency and update it as needed, with frequency, scope and type set by the client's risk (AMLA Art. 7(1bis)); the duty applies equally to FINMA-supervised and SRO-affiliated intermediaries, including crypto service providers.

FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, FINMASA Art. 5) supervises banks, securities firms and other institutions under the financial market acts, issues guidance such as the ICO Guidelines of 16 February 2018 on token classification, and supervises AML compliance of Art. 2(2) intermediaries directly; non-bank intermediaries are supervised for AML by recognised SROs (AMLA Art. 12).

The Swiss Federal Council sets financial-market policy and initiates legislation: its dispatch of 27 November 2019 led to the DLT Act of 25 September 2020, and on 22 October 2025 it opened a consultation on amending the Financial Institutions Act for payment-instrument (stablecoin) and crypto institutions.

The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS), run by the Federal Office of Police (fedpol), receives and analyses the suspicious activity reports that financial intermediaries, including blockchain service providers, must file under AMLA Art. 9 (AMLA Art. 23).