Switzerland's nationwide gambling authority said that user rewards on the platform feature the element of chance, categorizing them as gambling. Switzerland’s Gambling Supervisory Authority (GESPA), the country’s gambling regulator, has filed a complaint against FIFA’s non-fungible token (NFT) platform FIFA Collect, alleging that it is an unlicensed gambling provider. On Friday, GESPA announced the complaint, alleging the platform’s “competitions,” which feature user rewards like airdrop campaigns and challenges, constitute gambling under current Swiss regulations due to the element of chance in claiming rewards. GESPA wrote: From a gambling law perspective, the offers in question are partly lotteries and partly sports betting,” GESPA said. Switzerland has only two nationwide regulated sports gambling providers, Sporttip and Jouez Sport, according to GESPA. Read more
Amina Bank has become the first regulated financial institution to offer staking for Polygon’s POL token, allowing institutional clients to earn up to 15% rewards. Update (Oct. 9, 12:30 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include additional commentary from Maria Adamjee. Swiss crypto bank Amina Bank has become the first financial institution to offer staking services for POL, the native token securing the Polygon network. The Zug-based bank, licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), said on Thursday that it will provide institutional clients with up to 15% in staking rewards through a new partnership with the Polygon Foundation. Read more
Peter Märkl, general counsel at Bitcoin Suisse, suggested that EU and Swiss stablecoin regulations could benefit from greater flexibility. Peter Märkl, general counsel at Swiss crypto financial services firm Bitcoin Suisse, said the European Union and Switzerland lack clarity in their respective stablecoin regulatory frameworks. Märkl told Cointelegraph on the sidelines of the German Blockchain Week that “there’s a lot to be done” when it comes to the classification and the rules applying to stablecoins under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework. He said MiCA provides “a comprehensive, harmonized regulatory framework” for stablecoin issuance, offering and custody. However, “due to the rapidly evolving nature of crypto-assets and their use cases, classification remains dynamic and can, in certain cases, shift over time,” Märkl added. Read more