The chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) reportedly isn’t convinced it’s in his institution’s best interest to hold Bitcoin (BTC) as a reserve currency. While speaking at the central bank’s annual general meeting on Friday, Thomas Jordan argued that there are downsides to holding the top crypto asset, according to a report from Reuters. […]
The post Swiss Central Bank’s Chairman Says He’s Dubious About Holding Bitcoin as a Reserve Currency: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
The cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has raised €100 million ($109 million) in funding, according to the company’s disclosure on Thursday. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier says there has been significant demand for hardware wallets. He added, “2023 is even better for us because now you can’t even leave money at a Swiss bank.” Ledger to […]
Swiss bank secrecy laws have protected Credit Suisse from having to disclose whether it was banking criminal activity, which is a far cry from the transparency blockchain technology offers.
Leaked data shows that until recently, Swiss bank Credit Suisse held accounts valued at more than $100 billion for sanctioned individuals and heads of state reportedly accused of money laundering.
The New York Times reported on Feb. 20 that the data leak included more than 18,000 bank accounts. The data goes back to accounts that were open from the 1940s until into the 2010s, but not current operations.
Among the account holders holding “millions of dollars in Credit Suisse” were King Abdullah II of Jordan and Venezuela’s former vice-minister of energy, Nervis Villalobos.
King Abdullah has been accused of misappropriating financial aid for his own personal benefit, while Villalobos pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2018. Other sanctioned individuals also held accounts at Credit Suisse, as the New York Times wrote:
“Other account holders included sons of a Pakistani intelligence chief who helped funnel billions of dollars from the United States and other countries to the (Mujahideen) in Afghanistan in the 1980s.”
Banteg, the lead developer at Yearn Finance (YFI), leading decentralized finance (DeFi) yield farming platform tweeted today, “Credit Suisse AML happily hosted human traffickers, murderers, and corrupt officials.” Commenters took note of HSBC, another huge international bank that has paid hefty fines for aiding serious international criminals.
Credit Suisse AML happily hosted human traffickers, murderers, and corrupt officialshttps://t.co/5Fd0DGUnTS
— banteg (@bantg) February 20, 2022
Although there are laws in place that prohibit Swiss banks from accepting deposits from known criminals, the country’s famous bank secrecy laws make it easy to evade, if they are enforced at all. This has seemingly made Switzerland an inviting place for criminals to do their international banking as the New York Times wrote:
“The leak shows that Credit Suisse opened accounts for and continued to serve not only the ultrawealthy but also people whose problematic backgrounds would have been obvious to anyone who ran their names through a search engine.”
The irony of a major traditional financial institution aiding high criminals was not lost on the cryptocurrency community, which has battled against accusations of abetting criminals for years. The $100 billion in deposits outlined by the data leak dwarfs the $25 billion estimated by Chainalysis to be held by criminal crypto whales as of 2021.
Related: Multichain recovers $2.6M stolen funds, to reimburse losses on condition
The bank has denied any wrongdoing, but the centralized clandestine way in which Credit Suisse has operated contrasts with fully transparent blockchain technology. Such transparency may also mean that investigators and law enforcement can keep tabs on individuals and governments that are trying to evade economic sanctions in real-time.
On December 15, FINMA-licensed Swiss bank, Seba, announced the launch of a gold token that can be delivered in physical form, on-demand, at any time from the firm’s partner refineries. Seba believes the token can be leveraged as a compliant stablecoin “backed by responsibly sourced gold.” Swiss Bank Introduces ‘Seba Bank Gold Token’ Backed by […]
UBS has joined the phalanx of banks expressing concern over their customers investing in digital assets.
Swiss multinational investment banking giant, UBS, has warned its clients that crypto assets cbe unsuitable for professional investors if regulatory pressure continues.
In a note sent to clients last week, the global wealth management team at UBS said China's latest crackdown had hurt crypto prices and operators, cautioning that further regulatory pushback worldwide could exacerbate the downward pressure on digital asset prices:
“Regulators have demonstrated they can and will crackdown on crypto, so we suggest investors stay clear and build their portfolio around less risky assets. We've long warned that shifting investor sentiment or regulatory crackdowns could pop bubble-like crypto markets.”
While UBS acknowledged that further crypto gains could be possible, they emphasized the risks the speculative asset class could pose to investors:
“While we can't rule out future price gains in cryptos, we see this as a speculative market that poses significant risks to professional investors.”
The Swiss bank also warned about leveraged trading, stating “Crypto trading practices, such as extending 50X or 100X leverage, appear fundamentally at odds with mainstream finance regulation.”
The renewed Chinese crackdown on Bitcoin mining operations, which began in late April, has seen mixed analysis from the crypto community, with some arguing the migration of hash power from China offers the Bitcoin mining industry an opportunity to improve its ecological footprint and to further decentralize the network.
The banks see it differently, however, with UBS fearing that China’s actions will create a cascade effect around the world from financial regulators.
UBS’ prediction already appears to be coming true with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority taking action against the world’s largest digital asset exchange, Binance, on June 27.
Related: Binance disappointed by Barclays’ ‘unilateral action’ to block customer payments
A number of leading high street banks in the U.K. including TSB, NatWest, and Barclays, have limited their customers’ access to crypto exchanges since the FCA took action against Binance in late June.
In May, Cointelegraph reported that UBS was rumored to be working on launching crypto trading services for wealthy clients.
