As soon as the big cryptocurrencies, like
Ethereum, settled on an ICO in
Zug canton, the canton has been one of the most popular locales for blockchain-based virtual currencies in the world. An ICO in Zug has been so favourable, and such a good idea for cryptocurrency investors that the canton has literally taken on the nickname, 'the crypto-valley.' In this article we'll take a look at some of the information you'll need to know when launching an ICO in Switzerland, and in particular, why you should consider an ICO in Zug.
The past few months have seen some adaption in the guidelines published by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, which is the body that governs all financial companies and ICO's in Zug and all of Switzerland. The CEO of
FINMA stated that "Our balanced approach to handling ICO projects and inquiries allows legitimate innovators to navigate the regulatory landscape and to launch their projects in a way consistent with our
laws protecting investors and the integrity of the financial system."
Now, similarly to most financial regulators, every ICO in Zug or Switzerland will be judged and regulated on its own terms. That means that the regulators, in our case FINMA, will be judging an ICO on economic functions, every unique option offered by the ICO and from that, they will determine which rules and regulations will apply to that individual ICO.
At present, FINMA recognises three different types of tokens individually. These are listed below:
- Payment tokens or cryptocurrencies
- Utility Tokens: which are basically utilised by owners to access applications or services in a digital manner.
- Asset Tokens: which are technically real assets. That means the holder of an asset token truly is part owner of a company, has access to an earning stream or can also collect dividends or interest payments. This means these tokens are analogues to bonds or derivatives and equities