𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝗨 𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗣? 𝗼𝗿: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗺𝗲?

Recap of CV VC Summit and our 6th MiCAR Roundtable in Zug

The 6th MiCAR Roundtable in Zug last week focused on issues that Swiss Crypto-Asset Service Providers face when preparing to service the EU once MiCAR became fully applicable by the end of 2024. We discussed several strategies and the challenges, specifically in the context of a Swiss parent entity as the head of an international service provider group.

Solicitation labyrinth in group context:

• Could an EU subsidiary with a CASP license result in the Swiss parent being blocked from accepting new EU clients? That would be a contradictory outcome as it would disincentivize third-country service providers to establish MiCAR-compliant EU subsidiaries.

• Is it possible for MiCAR-authorized EU subsidiaries to still leverage (third-country) group infrastructure? Or does the EU subsidiary need to replicate group infrastructure, resulting in higher costs on the EU market and ultimately leading EU customers to try to onboard with a third-country service provider?

• As token issuance does not require an EU issuer: May a Swiss CASP issue a token into the EU (with a proper Whitepaper, if needed) and still accept further EU clients on the basis of reverse solicitation? Why not - this is standard for Swiss banks issuing bonds in the EU market.

Mariana de la Roche Wills and I had the chance to share our findings at the CV Summit later that day. Despite being the last workshop on the summit, there was so much interest in the topics that the organizers needed to intervene to control the flow of questions and eventually dismiss us from the room. If these topics interest you, watch out for our roundtable report!

It's always great to engage with industry leaders and experts (shoutout to our Zug rapporteurs Peter Lohmann from Sygnum Bank, Tina Rebecca Balzli from CMS and Reto Luthiger from MLL Legal). And many thanks to our supporters from Token Recovery, Crystal Intelligence and CV Labs!

I look forward to continuing these conversations: Our next stop will be Merge Madrid