The man who launched a blockchain and cryptocurrency assurance division for PwC in Switzerland is joining Tezos as chief financial officer, the foundation confirmed in a news release on June 11. Roman Schnider is leaving the Big Four firm after 15 years, and Tezos says he is already familiar with the organization, since it was the first major blockchain project to have its finance and business operations audited by PwC. Tezos describes itself as a platform focusing on smart contracts and decentralized applications that offers a protocol governed by stakeholders. Ryan Jesperson, the president of the Tezos Foundation, said: “As …

Swiss forwarding and logistics services company Panalpina has started blockchain pilot projects aimed at optimizing of supply chains, according to a press release on June 11. After joining the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) in May, Panalpina — one of the world’s largest transport and logistics companies, with consolidated profit of $76.3 million in 2018 — has launched two blockchain pilots in the air and ocean freight field with selected customers. One of the projects will investigate blockchain applications in high-tech industrial goods, and the other will deal with office supplies. Panalpina thus aims to digitize trade documents, store them …

Aon — a leading insurance broker that purports to occupy 50% of the crypto-insurance market — will reportedly provide crypto custody solutions provider Metaco with crime insurance coverage via a panel of London insurers. The news was revealed in a Metaco press release published by fintech news outlet Finextra on June 11. Lausanne-based Metaco is part-owned by Swiss telecoms giant Swisscom, the country’s national postal service, Swisspost and banking technology vendor Avaloq. The insurers — none of whose names have been disclosed — will reportedly provide the crime insurance coverage for institutions using Metaco’s SILO crypto asset infrastructure solution for …

Switzerland’s national bank should work with large industry players to develop a Swiss franc token, according to a report by the Avenir Suisse think tank on June 4. Avenir Suisse is an independent privately funded think tank, with a yearly budget of reportedly 5 million Swiss francs ($5 million). Despite the opportunities that distributed ledger technology (DLT) is creating in the country’s finance industry — especially in trade finance, asset management and capital markets — researchers argue that the debate surrounding digitization is focused too much on the risks. Avenir Suisse’s report claims that if Switzerland became a dominant player …

G20’s international watchdog, the Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB), said in its latest report that regulators need to improve their risk assessment strategies regarding financial activity in the crypto space, according to a report by Reuters on May 31. The report noted that one potential risk assessment metric regulators could look at is banks’ and other financial entities’ degree of exposure to cryptocurrency. The report also added that the FSB does not currently believe that crypto poses “a material stability risk” to the financial sector. As per the report, existing crypto regulations are somewhat weak, and the fast rate of …

Two leading global shipping firms, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and CMA CGM, have joined blockchain shipping platform TradeLens, Reuters reports on May 28. Switzerland-based MSC, the world's second-largest shipping company, and French CMA CGM, reportedly the fourth-largest container shipping firm, have joined the blockchain platform developed by the world’s largest logistics company Maersk and tech giant IBM. As previously reported, blockchain-powered shipping solution TradeLens intends to reduce paperwork and associated costs and time in the logistics industry — which reportedly accounts for $4 trillion — with over 80% of the goods carried by the ocean shipping sector. According to Reuters, …

High-end Swiss watchmaker Franck Muller has partnered with alternative assets investing firm Regal Assets to release the bitcoin (BTC) storage watch “Encrypto,” according to a report by Cointelegraph Brasil on May 23. In addition to being a high-end fashion accessory, with a price ranging from $9,800 to $50,600, the watch reportedly also functions as a cold wallet for BTC. The watch is reported to be engraved with a public address on its dial and comes paired with a private key on a USB drive. According to the firm, the “deep cold storage wallet” is unhackable and uses “offline generated, non-deterministic …

Major Swiss telecommunications company Swisscom announced its plans to distribute tokenized artwork through its Swisscom TV television network. The news was reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutsch on May 24. Per the company’s press release, limited artworks — initially 100 works by 30 artists — from selected artists are exclusively available on the Swisscom TV box through the NOOW app. The app was developed by Swiss tokenization startup Dloop. The works have been chosen by Stefanie Marlene Wenger, who commented in the press release on the development: “This is about more than creating a virtual gallery; the next step will be …

Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer Vacheron Constantin will start using blockchain technology to track its timepieces, lifestyle magazine Robb Report reported on May 24. Founded in 1755, Vacheron Constantin is recognized as the world’s oldest watch manufacturer. The company plans to issue a paper and digital certificate to each of its vintage watches, and will use blockchain tech to integrate additional information into the certificate, including a complete history of the product and manufacturer. Vacheron Constantin reportedly said that blockchain will help fight counterfeiters and guarantee authenticity of its watches, as well as protect potential customers from purchasing fakes. …

Financial service provider SIX is developing a stablecoin pegged to the Swiss franc, a company spokesman confirmed to Cointelegraph on May 23. The company is also planning to launch a blockchain-powered exchange for digital tokens in the second half of 2019, but the spokesman said he was currently not at liberty to discuss further details concerning whether the stablecoin will operate on that exchange. SIX also runs Switzerland’s top stock exchange — and earlier this month, a top executive revealed that the company is planning to issue its own tokens on the upcoming digital exchange. Thomas Zeeb, SIX’s head of …

Social media giant Facebook has apparently formed a new financial tech firm, Libra Networks LLC, according to a filing on the Geneva Commercial Register. Libra Networks was registered in Geneva on May 2 by Facebook Global Holdings II LLC. Per the official filing the firm provides: “...services in the fields of finance and technology, as well as the development and production of software and related infrastructure, in particular in connection with investment activities, the operation of payments, financing, identity management, data analysis, big data, blockchain and other technologies.” Facebook registered the trademark “Libra” with the United States Patent and Trademark …

Switzerland’s national postal service Swiss Post has cooperated with blockchain firm Modum to further develop a temperature monitoring solution for shipments. The news was reported by Swiss logistics news site Die Post on May 7. Die Post reports that Swiss Post has cooperated with Modum, a blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) technology firm, as a technology partner to launch a smart service. Dubbed ThermoCare, the service is for monitoring the temperature of packages, enabling sensitive goods to be tracked, analyzed and recorded over the full course of their travel route. The solution is reported to be aimed at optimizing …