The Swiss Blockchain Federation (SBF) has placed Switzerland sixth among 15 financial centers in its first global benchmark, scoring 75.62 out of 100 points. In response, the association is calling on regulators and policymakers for faster procedures at FINMA — Switzerland's financial markets supervisor — and a workable framework for Swiss franc (CHF) stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to an underlying fiat currency.

The findings are published in the report "Infrastructure First", which the SBF produced with support from AMINA Bank and the law and tax firm MME. The study compares 15 locations across eleven dimensions and measures which jurisdictions are best positioned in regulated infrastructure for tokenized securities, bonds and funds. The figures cited in this article are drawn from the SBF's press release and media kit.

The SBF represents the interests of the Swiss blockchain industry toward policymakers and authorities. It describes itself as a public-private initiative of business, government, academia and civil society. Originally launched in December 2017 as the Blockchain Taskforce, the association reformed as the SBF in 2018. Its president is Heinz Tännler.

US Leads, but the Midfield Is Tight

The United States tops the ranking with 85.00 points. Singapore follows with 83.25 and the United Kingdom with 80.00. After that, the field tightens considerably: Germany scores 76.88, Japan 76.38 and Switzerland 75.62. Luxembourg trails Switzerland by just 0.12 points at 75.50, and France takes eighth place with 74.12. Fewer than three points separate fourth from eighth place. Liechtenstein, at 64.25 points, and the Cayman Islands, at 50.25, sit at the bottom of the list.

Switzerland also sits on a category boundary. The report sorts the locations into three groups: "Leading" starts at 82 points, "Advanced" covers the range from 76 to 82, and "Developing" lies below 76. With 75.62 points, Switzerland therefore falls just short of the "Advanced" threshold. It trails fifth-placed Japan by 0.76 points and the leader by 9.38 — a sign that in the midfield, fractions of a point decide the order.

Top Marks for Law and Infrastructure

Switzerland achieves the highest score of all 15 locations in three of the eleven dimensions. It receives 9.5 out of 10 points for DLT infrastructure and 9.0 each for Regulatory Certainty and Legal Finality. In addition, it ties with the best performers for Banking & Custody and anti-money laundering at 8.5, and it matches the top score for geopolitical stability at 9.0.

The SBF attributes this strength to an early legal framework. The DLT Act, which adapted Swiss federal law to distributed ledger technology, has been fully in force since August 2021. Before that, the regulator had already granted the first FINMA licenses for digital assets in 2019.

Lagging on Speed and Market Size

On implementation speed — labeled "Implementation Momentum" in the report — Switzerland scores only 6.0 points, against 9.0 for the US. Only Australia, at 5.5, and the Cayman Islands, at 5.0, rank lower. The gap is even wider in market size and liquidity, where Switzerland's 5.0 points compare with 10.0 for the United States; only Liechtenstein and the Cayman Islands perform worse there. By comparison, second-placed Singapore achieves relatively high scores of 8.5 for speed and 8.0 for market size. In AI x Blockchain and Talent, Switzerland scores 7.8 points, while the US again reaches 9.0.

The weighting ultimately decides the overall result. Speed, market size and AI x Blockchain each count for 15%, so together they make up 45% of the total score. By contrast, Switzerland's three top disciplines — DLT infrastructure, Regulatory Certainty and Legal Finality — jointly account for only 25%. The report thus puts its emphasis on implementation and market impact. Combining the published Swiss individual scores with these weights yields around 75.7 points, which matches the overall score apart from rounding. That arithmetic helps explain how a location with the strongest legal scores can still finish in the midfield.

In the quadrant plotting regulatory maturity against implementation speed, Switzerland stands alone in the "Mature but Deliberate" field, positioned at roughly 9.2 to 6.0 points. Singapore and Luxembourg count as "Systematic Leaders," while the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and the UAE fall under "Fast Movers."

Five Demands on FINMA and Policymakers

The SBF identifies three gaps. One is implementation speed; another is shallow market depth combined with weak international connectivity. The third concerns the path from AI x Blockchain and talent to scalable applications. From these gaps, the association derives five demands.

First, FINMA should anchor innovation as a strategic goal and make its licensing procedures clearer, faster and more predictable. Second, the SBF calls for a technology-neutral, proportionate and risk-based framework for CHF stablecoins and digital forms of money. The remaining points target the market: the association wants to improve international access — for example, by further developing the agreement with the United Kingdom on digital financial services — and to establish interoperable links to international trading, custody and settlement platforms. It also seeks faster market entry for technology and talent. Nevertheless, the SBF stresses that it is not seeking weaker supervision.

Demands Land Amid Ongoing Legislation

The appeal arrives at a moment of active lawmaking. With the revision of the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), the Federal Council wants to create two new license categories: the payment instrument institution and the crypto institution. Under the plan, only payment instrument institutions would be permitted to issue a particular type of stablecoin in the future. Furthermore, the new category would replace the existing fintech license. The consultation on the bill ran from October 2025 to February 2026.

According to the SBF's policy overview, the bills are still with the Federal Council — this applies both to FinIA and to the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FinMIA). The association expects the dispatches in the first half of 2027, and a joint debate in parliament could follow in the same year. The SBF's demands therefore come at a stage that sets the course for the next round of regulation. Whether the dispatch texts pick up the five demands — notably on stablecoin issuance and licensing speed — is one of the points to watch as that round takes shape.

Strategically, the SBF advises against copying New York, London or Singapore. Instead, Switzerland should position itself as a neutral and internationally connected location for institutional digital assets. This covers tokenized bonds, funds, collateral and private market assets, plus custody and programmable cross-border settlement.

What Comes Next

The recommendations build on the association's earlier positions. The SBF's 12-point program from May 2025 already called for FINMA licenses within six months, innovation as a supervisory objective and technology-neutral regulation of stablecoins. The benchmark now places these concerns in an international comparison.

Things are set to become concrete in the coming weeks. First, the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) will hold a hearing on November 17, 2026, on the topic of "optimizing financial market regulation." The dispatches on FinIA and FinMIA will follow afterward. The SBF offers the full report, with country profiles and international case studies, via its website.

"Switzerland has a strong foundation. But we must not assume that legal quality and trust alone are enough. We must once again translate both more quickly into international relevance, concrete applications and lasting value creation." — Heinz Tännler, President, Swiss Blockchain Federation