Switzerland recently approved the first cryptoasset investment fund under the country’s legislation. Called the “Crypto Market Index Fund”, the instrument will be managed by Crypto Finance.
Announced last Wednesday (29), the Crypto Market Index Fund has been approved by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
According to an official statement, the Swiss fund is restricted to qualified investors. This is the first time that Switzerland has approved an investment fund dedicated to crypto assets.
Crypto Market Index Fund in Switzerland
Managed by PvB Pernet von Ballmoos AG, Crypto Market Index Fund will have only cryptoassets that obey some rules imposed by FINMA.
Because they represent “specific risks,” it has been established that not all cryptoassets can make up the investment fund. Classified as an alternative fund in the statement published by FINMA, the Crypto Market Index Fund will only have to hold coins that have a high trading volume in the market.
“Since cryptoassets involve specific risks, FINMA has also tied approval to specific requirements in the present case. For example, the fund can only invest in established cryptoassets with a sufficiently large trading volume”.
In addition, FINMA has laid down that Crypto Market index fund should maintain cryptoassets only in companies based in countries part of a particular group to combat global money laundering.
“Investments must be made through established counterparties and platforms based in a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) member country and are subject to corresponding anti-money laundering regulations”.
Before Switzerland, Brazil and Canada were the first countries to introduce cryptoasset investment funds. In total, there are currently 19 cryptoasset funds in Brazil, including Bitcoin ETFs.
