Sygnum
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.
FINMA Crypto Banking Framework: How Switzerland Licences Digital Asset Banks
On August 26, 2019, FINMA simultaneously granted banking and securities dealer licences to Sygnum Bank and AMINA Bank — creating the world's first two fully regulated digital asset banks. That event was the product of a regulatory framework FINMA had been developing since 2014. Understanding that framework is essential for understanding why Switzerland remains the global benchmark for institutional crypto regulation.
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.