ANALYSIS: Facebook’s Libra Motivates Swiss Regulatory Guidance

Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) made a September 11 announcement that may prove to be a milestone for Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency: regulatory guidance for stablecoin projects.

FINMA’s press release confirmed that the agency, which is responsible for a wide range of financial sectors, had received an inquiry from the Libra Association asking for an assessment of how it would classify the Libra project. The agency has issued guidance on how Swiss laws on banking, securities, anti-money laundering, and other fields will apply to stablecoins such as Libra.

It may be the first specific regulatory guidance on stablecoins by any ...