Swisscom Blockchain is looking to build its global presence in 2019. CEO Daniel Haudenschild explains why they’ve hired their first representative in Shanghai to connect with large Chinese blockchain companies.Gübelin signs up 50 companies for gemstone blockchain project
Where do your rubies and emeralds come from? Switzerland’s Gübelin Gem Lab says consumers today are more critical and curious about the origins of their gemstones. Managing Director Daniel Nyfeler tell us from GemGenève 2019 that around 50 companies are now tracing gemstones using Gübelin’s blockchain solution, which was launched in February.
Crypto Valley Labs kicks off new blockchain incubator in Switzerland
CV Labs in Zug welcomes its inaugural batch of 12 global start-ups in Switzerland’s first blockchain incubator. Up to USD 125,000 will be invested in each start-up in exchange for 10 percent equity. CV Labs explains its plans to set up between five and seven hubs around the world over the next three years.
Swiss luxury hotel accepts Bitcoin
Zurich’s five-star hotel The Dolder Grand is now accepting Bitcoin payments.
Bitcoin Suisse ramps up Liechtenstein focus with new CEO
Bitcoin Suisse is building up its Liechtenstein arm with a new hire, Mauro Casellini. He’s currently the head of blockchain at Bank Frick but will take over as CEO of Bitcoin Suisse Liechtenstein on July 1. Casellini explains the move and why Liechtenstein is a gateway for Bitcoin Suisse to access European clients.
Meet the Swiss town using blockchain to trade solar energy
Want to get cheaper energy and help the environment? Thirty-seven households in the district of Schwemmiweg in St. Gallen are using blockchain to trade excess solar energy. While the year-long pilot has drawn support from local residents, regulations are needed before implementing it on a wider scale across Switzerland.
Blockchain unicorn DFINITY to double its Zurich team in 2019
Swiss blockchain unicorn DFINITY has its sights set on building an “internet computer” or the first blockchain computer. But does that justify its USD 2 billion valuation? President and chief scientist Dominic Williams talks about the company’s plans to ramp-up its European headquarters in Zurich.
Does crypto spring mark a tipping point for blockchain industry?
The CV Summit is one of the biggest Swiss blockchain events taking place in Zug. Mathias Ruch, CEO of Crypto Valley Venture Capital, discusses this year’s theme #BUIDL and what the blockchain community can expect from crypto spring following the market correction in crypto winter.
Inside the first Swiss blockchain real estate deal
This month, the first Swiss home was tokenized and sold in canton Zug to four investors using blockchain. But how do homeowners then trade their tokens? And will blockchain eventually squeeze out the middlemen in real estate? Bastiaan Don, the founder of blockimmo, breaks it down.
SIX welcomes new competition from Swisscom, Sygnum, and Deutsche Börse
While Swisscom and Sygnum don’t see SIX as competition when it comes to their new marketplace for digital assets, SIX has another view. Following the new partnership announced this week between Swisscom, Sygnum, and Deutsche Börse, a spokesperson for SIX told CNNMoney Switzerland the following: “It shows that the Swiss market is seen as the right place to build digital-asset ecosystems and thus confirms our SDX initiative started last year. Competition stimulates the market and we welcome that. We cannot comment on how successful this venture will be, given that its business model, scope, and participants are largely different from our integrated business-to-business offering.”
Why Swisscom and Sygnum aren’t working with SIX
Swisscom, Deutsche Börse, and Sygnum plan to launch a new marketplace for listing and trading digital assets. But where’s SIX, the Swiss exchange, in this equation? Mathias Imbach, founding partner of Sygnum, and Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, chief digital officer of Swisscom, have the answer.
How blockchain can rewrite the rules of academic publishing
Blockchain could boost funding for academic researchers and disrupt the way their work is published, argues Aleksandra Sokolowska of Validity Labs, an ETH spin-off. She is organizing SEED2019 a new event in Davos, Switzerland, that aims to connect the dots between blockchain and science.
Can a diamond cryptocurrency brighten up your portfolio?
SwissDiamondCoin is the new cryptocurrency in town, and it’s backed by diamonds. But can digital tokens really make investing in diamonds easier? We speak to Mathias Bucher, the founder of ABC Platform, the infrastructure platform behind this new token, about the launch, diamonds as a safe haven, and stablecoins.
