Ethereum
ICO (Initial Coin Offering): Definition, History, and Switzerland's Role
The ICO boom of 2017-2018 was the event that put Crypto Valley on the world's financial map. Switzerland — particularly Zug — was the world's leading ICO jurisdiction, processing the largest token sales in history and developing the regulatory framework (FINMA's 2018 ICO guidelines) that became the global template for token regulation.
Proof of Stake: The Consensus Mechanism Powering Crypto Valley's Protocols
Proof of Stake is the consensus mechanism that replaced energy-intensive mining across the blockchain ecosystem. Every major protocol governed by a Zug-based foundation — Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, Tezos, Solana, NEAR — uses a proof-of-stake variant. Understanding PoS is essential for understanding how these networks operate and how staking rewards are treated for institutional investors.
Smart Contract: Definition and Swiss Regulatory Treatment
Smart contracts are the programming primitive that transforms blockchain from a payments network into a programmable financial infrastructure. Vitalik Buterin conceived them as the core innovation of Ethereum — the network governed by the Ethereum Foundation in Zug. Understanding smart contracts is prerequisite to understanding DeFi, tokenisation, and the legal questions the Swiss DLT Act addressed.