Plan B for crypto newsletter

Dear readers, alas this is the last time I will be sending you my personal thoughts on the Swiss fintech sector. From now on, we’ll be sending you regular updates highlighting the banking and fintech stories written by Swissinfo.ch.

As you know, I’ve focused on the developing crypto and blockchain scene in Switzerland over the last few years. I’ll continue to do so through articles published on the Swissinfo website.

My final personal thoughts in this newsletter series takes note of the vibrant blockchain competition between different regions of Switzerland.

I’ll start with Canton Zug, the original ‘Crypto Valley’, that has announced CHF39.35 million ($43.4 million) funding for blockchain research over the next five years.

The collaboration with the University of Lucerne and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, further highlights the contribution of academia to the Crypto Nation story – a theme I have covered before.

Putting tax revenues to work

The idea is to create a research institute in Zug and a communication ‘hub’ platform to connect the industry in the region.

Zug says it will find the funds from an interesting source: a so-called ‘supplementary tax’ that will be charged to multinationals to meet OECD minimum tax demands.

Pending a nationwide vote, Switzerland will sign up to a global agreement to impose a corporate tax rate of at least 15% on multinationals. If a canton charges a lower rate, the federal authorities will add an additional levy to top it up to 15%.

Several cantons say they will use these proceeds to boost local innovation and make their region more business friendly. Zug has shown its hand early, committing a slice of future revenues to the blockchain sector.

International competition to attract the brightest crypto firms is heating up despite the downturn created by the collapse of FTX and others.

Things bubbling up

Zug would love the US crypto VC fund Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to set up in central Switzerland rather than London.

Competition is also intense domestically, with Zurich, Neuchatel and the Lake Geneva regions all building up their own crypto valleys.

Last year, Lugano also ramped up its blockchain ambitions by launching the Plan B strategy to turn the city into the “European Capital of Crypto”. In January, Lugano launched a CHF100 million bond using distributed ledger technology.

A few months later, Zug raised the bar for accepting tax payments in bitcoin and ether. Residents can now pay up to CHF1.5 million of their taxes in crypto, up from the previous limit of CHF100,000.

Things are bubbling up nicely.