Switzerland (Swissquote bank) joins other European Countries for the Move towards ICO & Blockchain
TL;DR
- France decided to go ahead with its plans to legalize ICOs and provide start-ups with a new way of raising funds.
- Switzerland-based bank, Swissquote, becomes the first financial institution to offer ICOs on its platform, with the first ICO being held by LakeDiamond.
- Luxembourg aims to become the first country in Europe to officially legalize blockchain technology and advance its development and use cases.
Throughout their recent history, European countries have become known as gate-keepers for the adoption of new technologies. This has been shown through numerous examples, such as green environment laws, sustainable tech, as well as laws regarding privacy and data security.
France moves to regulate ICOs
More recently, however, more and more of these countries have started focusing on crypto and blockchain technology. France and Switzerland, for example, have developed a particular interest in initial coin offerings (ICOs) during recent months.
France is currently attempting to regulate ICOs, and legally allow companies to raise funds through cryptocurrencies. The process needs to be closely monitored and well-governed to become legal and fully supported. The National Assembly has recently approved a key framework that is hoped will achieve this, and the country has also adopted the so-called, Article 26. The article focuses on establishing a legal framework that would allow ICOs, as well as optional AMF Visa.
Swiss bank starts offering access to ICOs on its platform
A new report from Switerzland claims that one of its banks, Swissquote, will now allow clients to access ICOs via its platform. The announcement came on Monday, and it states that the bank has chosen LakeDiamond as its first ICO.
LakeDiamond is a company that produces human-made high-grade diamonds in specialized reactors located in its laboratories. Each token sold during its ICO will represent machine production minutes. So far, the firm has issued around $60.8 million (CHF 60.5 million) worth of tokens. At the moment, the price of each LKD coin is CHF 0.55. The company plans to use the funds raised via the ICO for purchasing additional reactors which will further improve their business.
Swissquote’s CEO, Marc Bürki stated that this move will allow start-ups an opportunity to grow and that the smallest amount of LKD that can be bought during an ICO is 60 coins (33 Swiss francs).
Luxembourg aims to legalize blockchain technology
In addition to opening up to ICOs, several European countries expressed increased interest in blockchain technology too. Luxembourg, for example, aims to become the first nation in Europe to officially legalize blockchain. Its Finance Minister, Pierre Gramegna, recently stated that Luxembourg is a pioneer at blockchain integration. Furthermore, he claims that this came as a consequence of local acts that the financial sector benefits from.
This move represents the next step in Luxembourg’s long history of attempting to produce a healthy and productive environment for start-ups, as well as established technology firms. And, while blockchain technology is most commonly connected to the cryptocurrency industry, its potential use cases go far beyond this single purpose.
More and more countries around the world are noticing this technology, as well as its, seemingly endless, potential. With experts claiming that this tech is still in its infancy, numerous nations have started looking into it, hoping to find a way to expand it further and benefit from this development. As a result, blockchain is developing at an impressive rate, and in the last few years, it has brought transparency, a superior form of data storage and sharing, and it promises to revolutionize numerous industries.
At the moment, only a few sectors are actively benefitting from the blockchain, but nearly every branch of modern industry has the potential to do so.
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