The federal government of Switzerland is planning to freeze all crypto assets that are within its borders. They are in the ownership of Russian citizens and businesses sanctioned by the European Union.
On Friday, the federal council said they are planning to match the latest series of sanctions already. The restriction by the EU is in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Also, In the past week, Guy Parmelin, Swiss Finance Minister, said that Switzerland had frozen bank accounts and physical assets owned by 223 Russians. It includes the close associates of President Vladimir Putin. “As of today, all four of the EU’s sanctions packages have been adopted and implemented. Further, since Monday, bank accounts and assets of 223 Russians, including oligarchs and close Putin confidants, have been identified and frozen within the country,” Parmelin disclosed.
Moreover, Senior officials at the finance ministry further mentioned that freezing crypto assets was essential. The reason Switzerland wants to freeze the assets is to protect the integrity of its cryptocurrency industry.
They’ve stated that:
“If someone holds their crypto key themselves, then, wherever they are, it’s going to be virtually impossible to identify them. But if they are using crypto services — funds, exchanges and so on — these service points we can target,” the official stated.
Switzerland Embracing Crypto Culture
Switzerland, which has long been a global economic hub, is now embracing the potential of cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. The country is friendly to cryptocurrency and blockchain. Also, it is home to numerous industry companies and sensitive regulations to the sector.
Switzerland is a “Crypto Nation and in regard to crypto regulations, they’ve updated a range of company and financial laws to give blockchain commerce a solid legal basis.
Moreover, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) licensed two of Switzerland’s crypto banks. It includes a crypto assets fund and a crypto stock exchange in the last two years.
[…] The Russian government also has been taking some of the steps to unparalleled Western sanctions that imposed over the Ukraine invasion. However, the nation which is energy-rich is looking to different currencies for the purpose to replace U.S. dollar along with euro in the gas trade. […]