Switzerland-based cryptocurrency bank Dukascopy has warned customers that forex trading company GCG Asia is fraudulently claiming to be the bank’s authorized firm in an announcement published on Feb. 27. In the announcement, Dukascopy Bank — purportedly the first regulated bank to launch its own initial coin offering (ICO) — cautions that neither it nor any entities of Dukascopy Group have relations with GCG Asia, although the latter fraudulently claims the opposite. The warning reads: “GCG Asia is fraudulently using Dukascopy's name and logo for attracting clients/investors, without Dukascopy Bank's permission. We are taking actions against this dishonest organisation.” In January, …

Switzerland will host the Swiss Blockchain Hackathon later this year in a bid to help companies find real-life applications of blockchain technology, according to an announcement published on Feb. 27. The three-day event is reportedly organized by Switzerland’s six leading blockchain and IT organizations — Trust Square, Bitcoin Association Switzerland, CV Labs, Crypto Valley Association (CVA), Swiss Blockchain Federation and swissICT — and will take place from June 21 to June 23, 2019. Per the announcement, the hackathon is designed to facilitate the deployment of blockchain across a wide range of industry sectors and help find the technology’s tangible applications …

Switzerland-based crypto exchange ShapeShift announced the launch of a six-episode show, dubbed “Down the Rabbit Hole,” which is dedicated to crypto enthusiasts. The exchange posted a trailer for the film on its Twitter page on Feb. 26. Company’s official Twitter account, @ShapeShift_io, has posted six previews with a brief summary of each episode. The first one, “The Technologist,” is dedicated to Zooko Wilcox, CEO of Zcash. The entrepreneur talks about his path in crypto, the privacy issues and the advantages of cryptography. “The Humanitarian” interviews Nyla Rodgers, CEO & Founder at Mama Hope and Satoshi is Female. Rodgers shares her …

Pangea Blockchain Fund has debuted its blockchain fund, securing $22 million with key investors including Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver, according to a press release on Feb. 27. Switzerland-based Pangea Blockchain Fund is targeting the development of transformative blockchain-driven solutions and expects the total fundraising to be capped at $200 million. The recent seed round was also participated in by Copernicus Asset Management, a financial services group based in Lugano, Switzerland. The company is licensed as a Swiss Authorized Asset Manager and also acts as an investment manager for Pangea’s fund. Pangea Blockchain Fund’s investment adviser Blockchain Investment Advisory Sagl, is …

Swiss bank Julius Baer plans to provide its client access to digital asset services, following a partnership with crypto bank startup Seba Crypto, a press release from Julius Baer reveals on Feb. 26. The partnership will come into effect when Seba is granted a securities dealer and banking license by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, the press release notes. The Swiss bank will then begin offering digital asset storage, transaction and investment solutions in partnership with the crypto startup. The announcement also discloses that the banking giant has been a minority shareholder of Seba since last year. According to …

While the initial coin offerings (ICOs) market is currently smaller than it was in 2018, it is still larger than it was at the beginning of 2017, data on crypto analytics website CoinSchedule reveals as of Feb. 13. Total Funds Raised per Month Since Feb. 13, 2017-Feb. 13, 2019 — CoinSchedule CoinSchedule’s data states that last month $291.6 million have was raised through ICOs, which is around 19 times less than the $5.8 billion raised in March last year. Still, this is also nearly 72 percent more than the $81.8 million raised in April 2017. Furthermore, according to the data …

Frenchman Hervé Falciani, a whistleblower who has been convicted of the largest leak in banking history, plans to launch an ethical cryptocurrency that would combat money-laundering and fraud, Reuters reported on Feb. 8. In 2015, Falciani was convicted in absentia by Swiss courts for aggravated financial espionage after leaking the details of ~30,000 accounts, holding almost $120 billion in assets at HSBC’s Swiss private bank. The evidence — which was alleged to have exposed a web of clients’ tax evasion, money laundering, and illicit financing schemes — has since triggered investigations and prosecutions in several countries, and Falciani remains in …

Switzerland's principal stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange will test blockchain integration for its forthcoming parallel digital trading platform SDX in the second half of this year. The news was reported by Cointelegraph Deutschland Feb. 4. SIX Swiss Exchange sees roughly 5.19 billion Swiss Francs (CHF) (~$5.18 billion) in daily turnover, and has a market capitalization of over 1.67 trillion CHF ~($1.6 trillion). CEO Jos Dijsselhof told Cointelegraph Deutschland in an interview that the company had chosen the technology for the time efficiency and improved security it can offer across all stages of stock trading and settlement: "The fact is, it …

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) in Q4 2018 raised 25 percent less than in Q3, while the total amount of completed ICOs increased, according to a report by ICO rating service ICObench shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6. The number of ICOs completed in Q4 increased to 594 from 554 in Q3, the report says. With that, the number of ICO projects that did not raise funds has also increased in Q4, while the number of successfully completed ICO projects remained equal. According to the report, the total funds raised by ICOs in Q4 was $1.4 billion, down from $1.8 billion …

Major United States crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase is launching support for European Union residents to make fiat currency withdrawals to online payment system PayPal. The development was announced in an official blog post published on Feb. 5. As reported, Coinbase had first rolled out PayPal withdrawal support for U.S. users last month. The European extension of the service will reportedly apply to both E.U. residents and those living in European Free Trade Association countries — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Coinbase had previously integrated support for PayPal back in summer 2016, but terminated the service within several weeks …

Switzerland-based crypto bank Seba Crypto AG has signed an agreement with Swiss mortgage bank Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG to use its core banking system, Finstar, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports on Jan. 31. The partnership will allow for the implementation of Seba’s decentralized software into Finstar, as well as allowing Seba to use Finstar’s conventional services. Additionally, Seba will be able to use Finstar to process and store transactions made with cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based products. The project is set to be completed in Q2 of 2019, a Jan. 31 press release notes. Hypothekarbank will reportedly be responsible for overseeing application management …

The recently elected president of the Swiss Crypto Valley Association (CVA), Daniel Haudenschild, declared that the crypto bear market has damaged Switzerland’s position as a global blockchain hub. Haudenschild made his comments in an interview with major local media outlet Swissinfo, Feb. 4. Haudenschild officially took office as the president of the CVA on Jan. 31, stating in the interview that he intends to “heal divisions to prevent Switzerland losing any more ground to other countries” in attracting blockchain projects. According to SwissInfo, his election “followed a period of unrest that saw claims of profiteering and sharp practices.” Haudenschild told …