Swiss-based investment bank and financial services company the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) said that Bitcoin’s (BTC) scalability and volatility are still too high for the cryptocurrency to be used as “money,” CNBC reported August 2. In a note to clients, UBS strategist Joni Teves claimed that until regulatory support is in place and technical hurdles are overcome, Bitcoin could not become a “legitimate asset class,” underlining, “Bitcoin is still too unstable and limited to become a viable means of payment or a mainstream asset class. Owing to its lack of price stability, bitcoin falls short of criteria that need …

A PwC Switzerland executive said that among the various types of digital assets, only digital currencies are can reasonably be used at present, according to a post on the PwC website July 31. In the post, Roland Stadler, Senior Manager and Data & Analytics Specialist at PwC Switzerland, claims that while digital assets “seem similar at first glance,” on closer inspection they differ. Stadler makes a distinction between “digital assets” and “currencies,” because “only a few” can be considered currencies in the “literal sense of the word.” He then divides digital assets into three types; currencies like Bitcoin (BTC), utility …

Online banking service provider Swissquote has seen a 44 percent surge in profits in the first half of 2018, an uplift attributed to the “crypto boom” earlier this year, local news outlet Finews reports July 31. In July 2017, the Swiss-based online bank was credited by many with becoming “the first” European online bank to launch Bitcoin (BTC) trading accounts for its clients. Other Swiss financial institutions have been clamoring to post “firsts” in the integration of crypto into the financial sector, with Falcon Private Bank moving in just ahead of Swissquote in July 2017 to offer its clients direct …

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has launched enforcement proceedings against crypto mining firm Envion AG over its potentially unauthorized token sale, according to a FINMA press release today, July 26. Swiss-based Envion AG is an off-grid mining company that claims to use decentralized, clean energy to power its mobile mining units, and completed its month-long Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for the EVN token in mid-January this year. FINMA’s investigation into the case to date suggests that in the context of its ICO, Envion AG accepted approximately 100 million francs (around $100.01 million at the time) from over 30,000 …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Crypto Exchange Coinbase Retracts Announcement Of Getting Regulatory Approval Major U.S. crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase has retracted their previous announcement that they had secured approval from U.S. regulators to list digital tokens considered to be securities. According to comments sent to Bloomberg, not only were the SEC and FINRA not involved in …

The world's four largest auditing firms — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC —have joined 20 Taiwanese banks to pilot blockchain technology for fiscal audits, local news outlet CTEE reports July 19. The “big four” will join a consortium of major Taiwanese banks to test a blockchain solution for auditing companies’ interim financial reports, focused on streamlining so-called ‘external confirmation’ processes. These currently require an auditor to manually obtain and verify audit evidence of companies’ transactions with third parties. The pilot — which has been developed by the banking consortium alongside Taiwan's Financial Information Service Co. (FISC) — harnesses …

Recently, much of the news related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain was surrounding their developments in Switzerland. This country — which is widely known in the financial world for its robust financial services offered and for the privacy given to a bank’s clients — is now home to Crypto Valley, which is located in Zug. With conferences and events flourishing throughout the years, Crypto Valley is considered one of the most important hubs for experts, investors and enthusiasts to meet and exchange ideas and information. In this context, the Crypto Valley Association has been created, with the support of the Swiss …

SIX Group, the parent company of Switzerland’s principal stock exchange, has revealed that it is “open” to the possibility of offering cryptocurrency trading services on its digital trading platform. The platform, still in development, is set to launch by mid-2019, SIX Group’s spokesman told the Swissinfo news outlet in an interview July 15. Swiss Infrastructure and Exchange (SIX) Group operates the country’s largest stock market, and is planning to launch a “fully-regulated” platform for digital asset trading by mid-2019. The service is set to offer a “complete” range of services from, including initial coin offering (ICO) consulting for those ICOs …

The U.S., Switzerland, and Singapore were ranked as the top three “most favorable” countries for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) in a recent report, according to a press release the researchers shared with Cointelegraph July 14. Analysts associated with the Crypto Finance Conference compiled the research based on publicly available data of the top 100 ICOs by country in terms of funds raised and ranked them by number of projects launched. The report highlights the U.S. as the most favorable country for ICOs with a total of 30 companies launched in the field. The second country is Switzerland, which is responsible …

The Tezos Foundation has announced that it will hold their first formal call for proposals through an open grantmaking process, according to an announcement published July 13. According to the announcement, Tezos’ public call for grants will be made in August of this year, and has determined three main areas as an initial target. These include “research that furthers the Tezos protocol and related technologies,” “development of tools and applications to support the Tezos ecosystem,” and “efforts to strengthen and nurture the burgeoning Tezos community.” Within the initiative, the Foundation is reportedly going to invite community members, institutions, developers, and …

Electronics giant HTC will not be releasing a smartphone with a native blockchain network for crypto trading between users as previously announced, The Verge reported July 10. Instead, the company will introduce a smartphone containing a cryptocurrency wallet and CryptoKitties, the Ethereum-based decentralized application (DApp) game. On May 15, the Taiwan-based electronics firm had first unveiled its blockchain smartphone project, the HTC Exodus, that would reportedly include support for both the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) networks. The Verge wrote in May that the company planned on creating a product with “a native blockchain network that uses Exodus phones as …

Sirin Labs, a Swiss-based smartphone developer, will release a blockchain-based phone in November this year, the company told Cointelegraph on July 11. In December 2017, Sirin Labs raised $157.8 million for the project during their Initial Coin Offering (ICO), with $110 million gathered over the first 24 hours. Sirin Labs had also previously released a privacy-focused smartphone in 2016, with a market price of $16,000. The new blockchain-based phone, called Finney, is scheduled to go to market with an expected price of $1,000, Sirin Labs told Cointelegraph. Based on the Android system, Finney will run on SIRIN OS and include …