DLT Securities
Real-World Asset Tokenisation in Zug: How Switzerland Is Digitising Bonds, Real Estate, and Private Equity
Real-world asset tokenisation — the issuance of traditional financial assets as blockchain-based securities — has a more complete institutional infrastructure in Switzerland than anywhere else on Earth. The Swiss DLT Act created the legal foundation. FINMA-licensed digital asset banks built the issuance and custody layer. SIX Digital Exchange provides the regulated secondary market. Zug is where the theory became practice.
DLT Securities (Registerwertrechte): Switzerland's Tokenised Securities Framework
DLT securities — Registerwertrechte in Swiss law — are the legal instrument that makes regulated tokenisation possible in Switzerland. Created by the Federal DLT Act (effective February 2021), they are securities that exist only on a blockchain, with full legal rights enforceable under the Swiss Code of Obligations. Sygnum and AMINA Bank issue them. SIX Digital Exchange trades them. They are Switzerland's most significant contribution to global securities law in a generation.
The Swiss DLT Act: How Switzerland Legalised Tokenised Securities
Switzerland's DLT Act, effective February 1, 2021, created something that had not existed anywhere in the world: a statutory legal framework for securities that exist only on a blockchain. The Act amended eight federal statutes, created a new DLT securities category, reformed insolvency law for crypto assets, and established the DLT trading facility licence. It remains the most comprehensive blockchain-specific legislation in any major financial jurisdiction.
Tokenisation in Switzerland: Real-World Assets on Blockchain
Tokenisation — the issuance of traditional financial assets as blockchain-based securities — is the most institutionally significant application of blockchain technology in Switzerland. The Swiss DLT Act, the FINMA-licensed digital asset banks, and the SIX Digital Exchange have created the world's most complete institutional tokenisation infrastructure. This is where traditional finance meets blockchain.