Switzerland Compliance Report

Generated 2026-10-28

Comprehensive Framework

Regulatory Overview

Regulatory Status: Dedicated crypto/VA legislation, licensing regime, active enforcement
Key Regulator(s): Swiss Federal Council, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority
Risk Level: low
Primary Legislation: Federal Act of 25 September 2020 on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology, AS 2021 33, The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 10 October 1997 (AMLA/GwG, SR 955.0) sets ident, The Financial Institutions Act of 15 June 2018 (FinIA, SR 954.1), in force since, The Banking Act of 8 November 1934 (BA, SR 952.0) governs banking and FinTech li, BankG Art. 16 no. 1bis, inserted by the DLT Act, in force 1 Aug 2021, The DLT Act entered into force in two stages: the Code of Obligations provisions, The DLT Act aims to create legal certainty for tokenised assets and DLT trading, The DLT Act introduced ledger-based securities (Registerwertrechte, CO Art. 973d, The DLT Act created a licence for DLT trading facilities under FMIA Art. 73a: co, The DLT Act of 25 Sep 2020 amended BA Art. 1b, in force 1 Aug 2021, so that FinT, The Financial Market Infrastructure Act of 19 June 2015 (FMIA, SR 958.1) regulat, The Banking Act (SR 952.0) applies to banks and bars non-banks from professional, The Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading Act of 24 March 1995 (SESTA) was repe, The Collective Investment Schemes Act (KAG, SR 951.31) covers assets raised from, Banking Act, Portfolio managers and trustees act professionally, and need FinIA authorisation
Travel Rule: Adopted — Threshold: Implemented
Tax Reporting: Crypto assets are movable capital assets for Swiss tax: held privately they are subject to cantonal wealth tax at year-end value and gains are in principle tax-free capital gains, while gains on business assets or from self-employed trading are taxable income (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Since February 2021 the Canton of Zug accepts tax payments in Bitcoin and Ether.. Gains on crypto held as private assets are in principle tax-free capital gains (losses not deductible), but depending on the type, scale and financing of the transactions they can be reclassified as taxable self-employment income (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021).. Whether a crypto trader is a private investor or self-employed depends on the type, scale and financing of transactions; the ESTV working paper (14 December 2021) applies by analogy the criteria of ESTV Circular No. 36 of 27 July 2012 on professional securities trading.. Where crypto trading qualifies as self-employment by type, scale and financing, gains are taxable income rather than tax-free private capital gains, and losses are deductible if booked (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021).. Income-taxable crypto receipts include mining rewards, staking rewards, airdrops (at market value on allocation), salary paid in tokens (at value when received) and payments on asset tokens with a contractual basis; mining and solo validating can be self-employment income (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021).

Key Facts

aml 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)).
general FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) define asset tokens as tokens representing assets such as a debt or equity claim on the issuer, and treat them as securities under FMIA Art. 2(b) where they represent an uncertificated security or a derivative and are standardised and suitable for mass standardised trading. Under FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018), utility tokens are not treated as securities if their sole purpose is to confer digital access rights to an application or service usable at the point of issue; tokens that also or only have an investment function are treated as asset tokens, and standardised pre-sale claims to future tokens are treated as securities. FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) state that FINMA will not treat payment tokens (cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether) as securities; issuing or managing a means of payment makes the provider a financial intermediary under AMLA Art. 2(3)(b), so payment-token issuance is subject to anti-money-laundering duties. FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 Feb 2018) apply the requirements for each token category cumulatively to hybrid tokens: a token with both payment and investment features is treated as both a security and a means of payment, rather than under a single strictest regime. FinSA Art. 35 requires a prospectus for a public offer of securities in Switzerland or their admission to trading; Art. 36(1) exempts offers made only to professional clients, to fewer than 500 investors, to investors acquiring at least CHF 100,000 each, with a minimum denomination of CHF 100,000, or totalling under CHF 8 million over 12 months. Tokens that give holders a repayment claim against the issuer are usually classed as deposits under banking law or as collective investment schemes (FINMA Guidance 06/2024, 26 Jul 2024); accepting such deposits professionally needs a banking licence, a FinTech licence under BA Art. 1b (up to CHF 100 million, not invested or interest-bearing), or a bank default guarantee under BankV Art. 5(3)(f). Under FinIA Art. 41 (in force 1 Jan 2020), a firm that professionally trades securities, including asset tokens that qualify as securities, in its own name for the account of clients needs a FINMA securities-firm licence; FinIO Art. 65 treats this as professional when the firm keeps accounts or holds securities for more than 20 clients. Admitting securities to trading on a Swiss trading venue requires a prospectus under FinSA Art. 35(1); for DLT securities admitted to a DLT trading facility under FMIA Art. 73a, FinSA Arts. 35–57 and 64–69 apply by analogy (FinSA Art. 35(1bis)).
licensing 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.
securities Overview of Regulatory Landscape: Switzerland has emerged as a favorable jurisdiction for cryptocurrency and digital asset securities due to its progressive regulatory framework, which balances innovation with investor protection. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), an independent public-law institution in Bern (FINMASA Art. 5), supervises under the financial market acts; it applies them to crypto activities by function, treating asset tokens as securities and payment tokens not as securities (ICO Guidelines, 16 February 2018), and supervises AML compliance of directly supervised institutions. Since 1 January 2020 the former securities dealer licence is the securities firm licence under FinIA Art. 41, required for professional securities trading such as dealing in one's own name for clients; FINMA does not treat payment tokens as securities, so offering cryptocurrencies alone does not trigger it. Under FINMA's ICO Guidelines (16 February 2018), issuing payment tokens is issuing a means of payment subject to AMLA (Art. 2(3)(b)), so the issuer must perform identification and beneficial-owner checks and either join an SRO or be FINMA-supervised; utility tokens granting access to a non-financial application fall outside AMLA. FINMA has audits carried out by itself, by approved audit firms or by appointed auditors (FINMASA Arts. 24-24a) and can withdraw licences (Art. 37), confiscate profits (Art. 35) and ban individuals from management roles (Art. 33); it cannot impose fines itself, as criminal fines under the financial market acts are prosecuted by the Federal Department of Finance (Art. 50). At federal level crypto assets fall under direct federal tax, withholding tax and stamp duties; per the ESTV working paper of 14 December 2021, private gains on payment tokens are in principle tax-free capital gains, holdings are subject to cantonal wealth tax, and income from asset tokens with participation rights is subject to withholding tax. Regulatory Uncertainty: Despite a favorable framework, gaps exist in the regulation of emerging technologies and cross-border operations, posing risks to market participants. Investing in Swiss securities - mypersonalfinance.ch
status Switzerland regulatory status: comprehensive
tax Crypto assets are movable capital assets for Swiss tax: held privately they are subject to cantonal wealth tax at year-end value and gains are in principle tax-free capital gains, while gains on business assets or from self-employed trading are taxable income (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Since February 2021 the Canton of Zug accepts tax payments in Bitcoin and Ether. Gains on crypto held as private assets are in principle tax-free capital gains (losses not deductible), but depending on the type, scale and financing of the transactions they can be reclassified as taxable self-employment income (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Whether a crypto trader is a private investor or self-employed depends on the type, scale and financing of transactions; the ESTV working paper (14 December 2021) applies by analogy the criteria of ESTV Circular No. 36 of 27 July 2012 on professional securities trading. Where crypto trading qualifies as self-employment by type, scale and financing, gains are taxable income rather than tax-free private capital gains, and losses are deductible if booked (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Income-taxable crypto receipts include mining rewards, staking rewards, airdrops (at market value on allocation), salary paid in tokens (at value when received) and payments on asset tokens with a contractual basis; mining and solo validating can be self-employment income (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Private capital gains on crypto held by non-professional individuals are in principle tax-free in Switzerland and losses are not deductible; only gains classified as self-employment income are taxed at progressive income-tax rates (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Crypto gains from self-employment or business activity are taxed as income, while gains on privately held crypto are in principle tax-free capital gains (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021). Payment tokens are subject to cantonal wealth tax and must be declared at market value at the end of the tax period; ESTV publishes tax values for the most common cryptocurrencies in its price list (Kursliste) (ESTV working paper, 14 December 2021).
travel rule Switzerland applies the travel rule to crypto transfers via AMLO-FINMA Art. 10 as interpreted in FINMA Guidance 02/2019 (26 August 2019), with no minimum threshold; the CHF 1,000 figure is the AMLO-FINMA Art. 51a client-identification threshold for virtual-currency transactions.

Sources

This report is AI-generated from publicly available regulatory sources. Last updated: 2026-10-26. View full profile