Licenses Approved: Dialog with the Regulator Proved Valuable with SDX

In the Financial Times, United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler warns cryptocurrency trading platforms that they will put their own survival at risk unless they agree to work within the regulatory framework. He says that he is “technology-neutral,” but asserts that crypto assets are no different than any others when it comes to protecting investors, guarding against illicit activity, and maintaining financial stability. That’s why he expresses disappointment that cryptocurrency trading platforms haven’t yet accepted his invitation to dialogue, preferring to “beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission.”

Entirely unlike SIX. In its role as the operator of the infrastructure for Switzerland’s financial center, engaging in dialogue with the regulator is a routine part of daily business, as it is, for example, for our digital exchange SDX as well. We set out to build a fully integrated trading, settlement, and custody infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology for digital assets in 2018, and have been actively engaged in dialogue with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA right from the outset.

Now we can reap the benefits of this engagement. In September, FINMA authorized the licenses we need to commence operating SDX. They mark the first permits ever issued in the Swiss financial sector for infrastructures that enable trading and integrated settlement of tokenized digital assets.

We will continue to invest in building up an ecosystem in the months and years ahead. We will amass an international client base consisting of securities issuers, banks, insurance companies, and other institutional investors to create worldwide trading liquidity for digital assets.

The authorization from the Swiss regulator marks a major milestone in providing these clients with a secure and robust infrastructure that meets all of the core requirements of a traditional exchange and central securities depository. Because as Gary Gensler aptly says in the Financial Times, “finance is about trust, ultimately.”