UNICEF will now be able to receive, hold and disburse donations of cryptocurrencies ether and bitcoin, through its newly-established UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund. In a first for United Nations organizations, UNICEF will use cryptocurrencies to fund open source technology benefiting children and young people around the world. Under the structure of the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund, contributions will be held in their cryptocurrency of contribution, and granted out in the same cryptocurrency. “This is a new and exciting venture for UNICEF,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “If digital economies and currencies have the potential to shape the lives of coming generations,…

As part of a proof of concept, SIX is working with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to explore technological options to make digital central bank money available for the trading and settlement of tokenized assets between financial market participants. The technological foundation for its feasibility is provided by the SIX Digital Exchange, which uses distributed ledger technology. The SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) continues to progress according to plan, making it the world’s first distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based platform for the issue, trading, settlement and custody of digital assets. This exchange innovation is now joining forces with innovation in the currency…

BearingPoint RegTech welcomes the UK-based financial technology company Revolut as a new customer for its Abacus360 Banking solution. Revolut will be using Abacus360 Banking for EBA and AnaCredit reporting. Revolut recently received a European banking license from the Bank of Lithuania, which grants the company access to the European market post-Brexit, and BearingPoint RegTech is now accompanying the fintech as it expands internationally. “The increasing complexity of regulatory reporting coupled with high cost pressure poses major challenges for reporting institutions. We are delighted to support Revolut in meeting these challenges with our comprehensive Managed Services offering,” comments Jürgen Lux, CEO…

A podcast interview with Sandra Tobler, co-founder and CEO of Futurae Technologies in Zurich. Futurae provides multi-factor authentication tools to corporate clients from Financial Services, Insurance and Healthcare sectors. The Voice of Fintech Podcast talks with them about the need to strike the right balance between security, user experience and privacy. Sandra also compares the startup scene in Silicon Valley to the one in Switzerland.

European and global fintech companies, investors and everyone interested in the latest financial technology will turn their attention to Lithuania. Here the largest financial technology conference Fintech Inn in Northern Europe and the Baltic States will be held for the 4th year in a row. With over 60 speakers presenting the latest and hottest fintech trends, the event is expected to attract over 3000 participants representing more than 500 companies worldwide. “This year we have invited a very impressive group of speakers from all over the world – from the USA and Canada to Germany, China and Brazil. This is a great…

Lykke launches Short LyCI, a new token designed to track the performance of the top 25 crypto projects and bet on their value falling in the future. With the Crypto Market often experiencing long downward trends, many wonder how to “win” in the Crypto Bear Market. Short LyCI behaves as an “anti-index”. When the performance of the market is negative, Short LyCI profits. It lets holders cash in on the expectation of a declining crypto market while being diversified across the main market actors. Short LyCI is an ideal tool for those who wish to protect their funds against abrupt…

Die auch in der Schweiz tätige Cash Payment Solutions GmbH, Berlin, hat einen neuen Mehrheitseigentümer: Glory Ltd., ein führende rAnbieter von Bargeldmanagementlösungen mit Hauptquartier im japanischen Himeji, hat 53 Prozent des Kapitals des 2011 gegründeten Fintechunternehmens erworben. Dieses ist in Deutschland und Österreich mit „Barzahlen“ sowie in der Schweiz in Zusammenarbeit mit der SBB mit „viacash“ tätig. Der Abschluss der Transaktion erfolgt vorbehältlich der Genehmigung der zuständigen Aufsichtsbehörden gemäss den geltenden Gesetzen und Vorschriften. Gesellschafteranteile der Grenke Bank AG und der Gründer bleiben unverändert Bei der Transaktion handelt es sich um eine Mischung aus einer Zweitplatzierung von bestehenden Anteilen und…

Der liechtensteinische Landtag hat am 3. Oktober 2019 das Token- und VT-Dienstleistergesetz (TVTG) einstimmig verabschiedet. Damit kann das Gesetz per 1. Januar 2020 in Kraft treten. Mit dem neuen Gesetz verfügt Liechtenstein als erstes Land über eine umfassende Regulierung der Token-Ökonomie. Das Gesetz regelt einerseits die zivilrechtlichen Fragestellungen in Zusammenhang mit Kunden- respektive Vermögensschutz. Andererseits wird eine adäquate Aufsicht über die verschiedenen Dienstleiter in der Token-Ökonomie eingeführt. Hinzu kommen Massnahmen zur Bekämpfung der Geldwäscherei, indem Dienstleister den Sorgfaltspflichtregeln unterstellt werden. Zudem schafft das Gesetz Klarheit in Bezug auf vollständig digitale Wertpapiere. “Mit dem TVTG wird ein wesentliches Element der Finanzplatzstrategie…

The purpose of the Swiss FinTech Awards is to promote Swiss fintech innovators and to contribute to the strong Swiss fintech ecosystem. The awards specifically recognize outstanding fintech startups and fintech influencers. The winners are chosen by a renowned jury consisting of 20+ fintech experts. All fintech start-ups with a Swiss connection can apply for the Swiss FinTech Awards starting today. This includes, for example Swiss founders (active in Switzerland and/or abroad) or organizations with a Swiss head office. All sorts of fintech verticals (Crowdfunding, Crypto, Insurtech, Data Analytics, Investing and Asset Management, Payments, RegTech, Security, WealthTech etc.) are eligible.…

F1′ opens its doors for Batch V. Sixteen high-potential Startups are looking forward to starting the «Prototype to Product» Program in the heart of Zurich. They will join the F10 for the upcoming six months and attend tailor-made masterclasses to excel. The F10 team is excited to support them together with the Corporate Members, Mentors and Experts during their journey. The batch will start on the 21st of October 2019 and finalize with the Demo Day on the 9th of April 2020. Interested Startups from all over the world applied to become part of the F10 program. It was a…

Die Baloise investiert in das in Zürich ansässige Startup gowago.ch und baut damit das Ökosystem “Mobility” weiter aus. gowago.ch hat die nächste Generation der Auto-Leasing-Plattformen entwickelt, die es Kunden ermöglicht, ein Gebrauchtwagen-Leasing einfach, transparent, günstig und bequem von zu Hause aus zu erledigen. Aktuell umfasst das Angebot der Plattform 10′000 Autos. Über 1’000 Kunden konnte gowago.ch in den letzten eineinhalb Jahren bereits begeistern. Die grosse Neuerung für die Kunden dank der Kooperation mit der Baloise: Alle anfallenden Fahrzeugkosten, von der Verkehrssteuer bis zur Autoversicherung, können ab sofort zusammen mit der monatlichen Leasingrate im schweizweit ersten unabhängigen Full-Service-Leasing für Gebrauchtwagen über…

A podcast interview with Tillmann Lang, CEO and co-founder of Yova. Yova is a platform for retail clients to invest in line with their values.With Yova, individual clients can make sustainable and socially responsible investments effortlessly. In an interview with Yova’s CEO and Co-Founder, Tillmann Lang explains why he is passionate about sustainable and socially responsible investing. He describes how clients are using Yova can invest in line with their values. Featured image credit: Linkedin

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is limited by its astronomical electricity consumption and outsized carbon footprint. A nearly zero-energy alternative sounds too good to be true, but as School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC) Professor Rachid Guerraoui explains, it all comes down to our understanding of what makes transactions secure. To explain why the system developed in his Distributed Computing Lab (DCL) represents a paradigm shift in how we think about cryptocurrencies – and about digital trust in general – Professor Rachid Guerraoui uses a legal metaphor: all players in this new system are “innocent until proven guilty.” This is in contrast to…

As of 1 October 2019, Daniel Bader will assume responsibility for the role of CFO at the digital banking software provider CREALOGIX. As announced end of July 2019, Daniel Bader will be appointed CFO of the CREALOGIX Group on 1 October 2019 following a two-month transition phase. He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial sector and has acted both as an auditor for global consultancies and in senior financial functions. Thomas Avedik, Chief Executive Officer of CREALOGIX: “The cooperation of recent weeks has shown that Daniel fits perfectly into the team. He will prudently accompany our…

TWINT and RaiseNow showcased in Zurich their new digital fundraising solution. Together with Caritas Switzerland, the two companies presented one fundraising campaign that has already been a success. Caritas Switzerland donors were mailed a donation request letter that, for the first time, included the TWINT QR code. All they had to do was scan it in the TWINT app, pick one of three suggested donations or enter a specific donation amount and simply confirm the donation. The partners all agree that the campaign was a success: TWINT donors tend to donate more than people who make donations via conventional channels.…

A group of leading companies from the global coffee supply chain announced a collaboration with Geneva based Farmer Connect – a tech startup building farm-to-consumer traceability solutions for enterprises based on the IBM Food Trust Platform. Farmer Connect aims to create efficiencies in the supply chain while connecting consumers to the farmers who grow the products they enjoy. The major partners of the platform’s initial phase include the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), ITOCHU Corporation, The J.M. Smucker Company, JACOBS DOUWE EGBERTS (JDE), RGC Coffee, Beyers Koffie, and Sucafina. This diverse group of actors will work together to further build…

Der Bundesrat hat am 20. September 2019 die Vernehmlassung zu einer Teilrevision des Bundesgesetzes über die Förderung der Forschung und der Innovation eröffnet. Die Gesetzesanpassungen betreffen insbesondere die Förderung durch die Innosuisse. Zu den Verbesserungen zählen unter anderem eine flexiblere Bemessung der Bundesbeiträge bei Innovationsprojekten sowie die stärkere Förderung von Jungunternehmen. Mit der neuen Regelung soll die Schweizerische Agentur für Innovationsförderung Innosuisse ab 2021 in klar definierten Bereichen mehr Spielraum bei der Erfüllung ihrer Förderaufgaben im dynamischen Umfeld der Innovation erhalten. So soll im Rahmen der Förderung von Innovationsprojekten der Betrag, den Unternehmen als Umsetzungspartner übernehmen müssen, neu zwischen 40…

Zurich-based fintech company neon has successfully closed its next financing round of 5mn CHF. After its attention-grabbing market entry, the start-up is now focusing on further expanding its product. Beside lead investor Tamedia, also Zurich-based Backbone Ventures and several existing investors increased their engagement in neon. Samuel Hügli, CTO and Head of Digital Ventures at Tamedia sees a lot of potential for neon in the Swiss market: “neon is a simple and mobile banking solution that, even though very easy to use, offers a high level of security. We’re continuing to support neon not only financially, but also through our…

Trading has started on Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange (BSDEX). It is Germany’s first regulated trading venue for digital assets where investors’ orders are executed directly against each other according to fixed rules. BSDEX combines all the potential of blockchain technology with the reliability of an established financial market player. BSDEX meets the regulatory requirements in accordance with section 2, paragraph 12 of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz). As of now, selected users in Germany can connect directly to the trading venue, where they can trade the Bitcoin-Euro pair initially. BSDEX will be opened up gradually to other retail and also…

Today at Sibos 2019, Finastra has announced its partnership with Swiss Fintech, NetGuardians, which sees the two companies launching an AI-powered fraud detection solution for financial messaging. Tailored for Finastra’s SWIFT Service Bureau, the tool uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify fraudulent payments in real-time, stopping them before money leaves the bank or corporate organization. Joel Winteregg, Co-Founder and CEO at NetGuardians said, “Fraud is a growing problem around the world and a big challenge for banks; and unfortunately, the SWIFT Network has found itself a target in recent years. With regulators urging banks to be more vigilant…