Activity-based, not asset-based
Switzerland’s approach is to ask what a firm is doing rather than what technology it uses. FINMA’s guidance classifies tokens by function — payment, utility, asset — and applies existing law accordingly. An asset token behaving like a security is regulated as a security. A payment token attracts anti-money-laundering obligations.
This means there is no single “crypto licence”. A firm may need a banking licence, a securities firm licence, the fintech licence for deposit-taking below defined thresholds, or the DLT trading facility licence, depending on what it actually does. Firms conducting financial intermediation for AML purposes must either hold a licence or affiliate with a recognised self-regulatory organisation.
The DLT Act
Switzerland amended a series of existing statutes rather than passing a standalone crypto law. The resulting framework, in force since 2021, created a legal basis for ledger-based securities — rights that can be validly transferred on a distributed ledger — and introduced the DLT trading facility licence for venues admitting them.
It also clarified the treatment of crypto-assets in a bankruptcy of a custodian: assets that can be individually attributed to a customer may be segregated from the bankruptcy estate. That provision addresses directly the risk that made several offshore failures so damaging to customers.
Tax
Switzerland levies an annual wealth tax on net assets, and crypto holdings are included, valued at year-end. This surprises holders arriving from jurisdictions with no wealth tax.
Against that, capital gains realised by a private individual on movable private assets are generally exempt from income tax. The exemption does not apply where the tax authorities consider the individual to be conducting professional trading, assessed against criteria including holding period, transaction volume, use of leverage and whether the activity substitutes for employment income. Cantonal practice varies, and the cantonal tax administration is the source that governs an individual position.
Sources
- FINMA, Fintech and blockchain supervision (1 Jan 2026)
Not legal or tax advice. This is a summary of published rules, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; check the primary sources linked above.
Last reviewed by Conisec Staff. Review cadence: Quarterly.