Tokens and Decentralized Finance: Legal Regulation Specificity in the Swiss Confederation

Abstract

Digital technologies have long been anintegral part ofeconomic and social relations. For example, its difficult toimagine modern society without various alternative means ofpayment. The widespread distribution oftokens and the development ofcryptocurrency markets have significantly influenced the further development ofthe economy and law. Many loyal jurisdictions for the development ofcrypto business, such asthe Swiss Confederation, inaneffort togain influence onthe crypto asset market, adapt legislation regarding the regulatory regulation ofdigital (virtual) assets. The purpose ofthe study istoconsider the current trends inthe legal regulation oftokens inSwitzerland under the influence ofglobal trends inthe crypto market, taking into account classification approaches. Asaresult ofthe conducted research, itbecame obvious that Switzerland, asthe so-called European crypto valley, seeks toprovide asolid legal basis for the effective use ofdistributed registry technology and the widespread use ofcrypto assets. However, despite the constant development oflegislation interms ofregulating the circulation ofcrypto assets and ensuring law enforcement practice inthis area, the Swiss Confederation iscurrently still inthe process offorming aholistic legal regulation ofasset tokenization, since the adopted regulations regulate only certain aspects ofthe circulation ofcrypto assets and ICO.