Daniel Haudenschild has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Swisscom Blockchain with immediate effect. The state-owned telecommunications group gave no reason for the shock move by the top manager and shareholder of its blockchain advisory unit.
This content was published on
3 minutes
When not covering fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, banks and trade, swissinfo.ch's business correspondent can be found playing cricket on various grounds in Switzerland - including the frozen lake of St Moritz.
News of Haudenshild’s departure clearly came out of the blue for the Swiss blockchain sector. One key partner of the Swisscom unit, who did not want to be named, only learned of the decision when swissinfo.ch called for comment.
In an interview with CNN MoneyExternal link on January 14, Haudenschild spoke of the company’s expansion plans, but made no mention of leaving.
swissinfo.ch spoke to Haudenschild a day after this article went online, but he declined to comment on the reasons behind his departure, other than to say that he remained a shareholder in Swisscom Blockchain.
Haudenschild is standing for the presidency of the troubled Crypto Valley Association at its annual general meeting on January 31. He said this was unconnected to the decision to leave Swisscom Blockchain.
He also declined to give details on his future career path other than saying he would remain in the blockchain sector. “It is my fundamental belief that blockchain can fix things that are currently broken, such as financial inclusion and proof of provenance,” he said.
Haudenschild was a key architect in the establishment of Swisscom BlockchainExternal link in the autumn of 2017. The unit was devised to cash in on the rapidly expanding blockchain sector in Switzerland by offering consultancy and technical services for start-ups and existing companies that want to incorporate blockchain into their operations.
Chief Digital Officer Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler will take over as acting CEO, Swisscom said in a statementExternal link. “Daniel Haudenschild and his team laid the foundations for Swisscom Blockchain Ltd. Thanks to his broad understanding of the technology, he made blockchain-based solutions accessible to other companies,” Wüthrich-Hasenböhler is quoted as saying.
In its first 16 months, Swisscom Blockchain has established partnerships with Swiss start-up Daura, a company that is working on a platform to help small companies list digital shares. Another partner, Custodigit offers secure cryptocurrency storage services.
Clients of the blockchain advisory specialist include Falcon private bank, canton Glarus and the Raiffeisen cooperative banking group.
Last month, Swisscom Blockchain teamed up with Swiss Post to build a “private blockchain” distributed ledger platform based on Hyperledger, designed to allow companies to plug in rather than build their own blockchains.
Popular Stories
More
Culture
Documentary portrays Swiss teenagers forced to return to parents’ homeland
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
AI can reduce the number of animals needed for research
This content was published on
Swiss researchers have developed a new, AI-supported method that analyses the behaviour of mice in the laboratory more efficiently.
Geneva Conventions conference on Middle East scheduled for March 2025
This content was published on
The conference on the Middle East of the 196 States party to the Geneva Conventions, organised by Switzerland, will take place in Geneva in March.
Swiss university graduates are popular hires worldwide
This content was published on
Graduates of Swiss universities are popular with international employers, according to the Global Employability University Rankings.
French cross-border workers in Switzerland fear ‘discriminatory’ unemployment reform
This content was published on
In the French region around Geneva, cross-border workers are protesting proposals to cut unemployment benefits for those working in Switzerland.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swisscom, Swiss Post create ‘plug and play’ blockchain platform
This content was published on
Switzerland’s state-owned telecoms and postal services have teamed up to create a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform to help plug mainstream industries into the blockchain.
This content was published on
The uptick in company registrations in the blockchain industry bucked the trend of slightly fewer start-ups setting up shop across all sectors in Switzerland last year. Switzerland has built a reputation as a global hub for the blockchain industry. Much activity is based around the Crypto Valley of canton Zug and in the Zurich financial…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.