1. Background

Recent international and national developments have shown a growing regulatory interest on stablecoins and other crypto-assets.

In the United States, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) was signed into law in July 2025, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) entered into force in June 2023 and is fully applicable since December 2024, setting detailed requirements for crypto-asset service providers and issuers of asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens. In the UK, new regulation covering the topics addressed by MiCAR is expected in the near future.

With the proposed new regulation, Switzerland addresses the hot topics that market participants most expect jurisdictions to regulate in this rapidly evolving international landscape, while maintaining its reputation for robust prudential supervision and market integrity. The proposed bill builds on the existing Swiss regulatory framework and forms part of Switzerland's broader fintech review initiated in February 2022 under the Federal Council's report "Digital Finance: Areas of Action 2022+".
 

2. Stablecoins and Trading Crypto-Assets

The draft bill distinguishes Swiss stablecoins from other crypto assets that are held for trading purposes. Swiss Stablecoins in the sense of the proposed legislation must aim to maintain a stable value, reference the value of a currency issued by a State and confer to their holder a redemption claim against the issuer (Swiss Stablecoins).

Crypto assets other than (i) Swiss Stablecoins, (ii) crypto-assets issued by a central bank or a State and (iii) utility tokens are viewed as crypto assets held for trading purposes, as long as they are not qualified as bank deposits or financial instruments (Trading Crypto-Assets). This includes, for instance, stablecoins issued by a non-Swiss issuer or cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
 

3. Two New Categories of Financial Institutions

The proposed bill introduces two new categories of supervised financial institutions:

• Payment instrument institutions: This new license category is intended to replace the existing fintech license. The most relevant change compared to the existing fintech license is the removal of the CHF 100 million cap on the acceptance of client deposits. In addition to accepting client deposits (provided that they are held in the form of deposits with a Swiss bank or with another payment instrument institution or in the form of high-quality liquid assets with short term maturity), payment instrument institutions will be allowed to issue and to custody Swiss Stablecoins and to offer payment services.  
• Crypto-institutions: This new license category is similar to the existing securities firm license. Crypto-institutions may, in particular: (i) act as wallet service providers for Swiss Stablecoins and Trading Crypto-Assets and offer staking services, (ii) trade in Trading Crypto-Assets for the account of clients (broker) or (iii) act as market maker for individual Trading Crypto-Assets.

4. Other Regulatory Changes

The proposed bill introduces several new regulatory requirements to adapt the existing regulatory framework to the specific characteristics of Swiss Stablecoins and Trading Crypto-Assets, including:

• Financial Services Act: A new title dedicated to crypto-assets applies the existing rules on (i) provision of financial services such as rules of conduct (e.g., information duties, appropriateness or suitability assessments or best execution) and organizational measures (e.g., conflicts of interest or compensation from third parties), (ii) offering of financial instruments (e.g., duty to publish a prospectus/whitepaper) and (iii) advertisement to Swiss Stablecoins and/or Trading Crypto-Assets.
• Anti-Money Laundering Act: Payment instrument institutions that issue Swiss Stablecoins will notably be required (i) to ensure that the risk associated with the use of the Swiss Stablecoins on the secondary market is assessed before issuance and is appropriately identified, limited and monitored within their risk management (e.g., by maintaining a list of wallets from/to which transactions are excluded or by ensuring that all holders of Swiss Stablecoins are identified by equivalently supervised financial intermediaries) and (ii) to have the capability to block transactions and to freeze and to claw back individual Swiss Stablecoins on the secondary market.

5. Next Steps

The consultation process will run until 6 February 2026. Following the consultation period, the Federal Council is expected to draft a consultation report assessing the feedback received from the relevant stakeholders and submit its final dispatch and draft bill to Parliament.
Schellenberg Wittmer will continue to closely monitor these significant legal developments and assist its clients in anticipating the implications of these expected regulatory changes.