Switzerland: lawmakers ask govt to legalize Bitcoin and seek BTC donations

[dego]

The swiss parliamentary lawmaker group "Digitale Nachhaltigkeit - Parldigi" (Digital Sustainability) asked the Swiss government to legalize Bitcoin.

In a postulate (site in german) titled "Establish legal certainty for Bitcoin" delivered to the swiss federal government the group of members of the national council asked the federal council to find answers to the following questions:


1. What chances for the financial centre Switzerland does the federal council see in Bitcoin and similar online currencies?

2. Which arguments speak against treating Bitcoin like a foreign currency?

3. Which regulatory instruments does the federal cuncil have to establish legal certainty for Bitcoin and similar online currencies?

4. If there are any regulatory steps to take, which will these be and what is the roadmap for implementation of these steps?


The group also says that these questions might be answered if the federal council takes the position that Bitcoins should be treated like foreign currencies. Then Bitcoin could be regulated using the existing swiss laws like the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA), the Value Added Tax Act (VAT Act) and similar laws. By doing this, legal certainty for Bitcoin could be reached in Switzerland.


To gain experience with Bitcoin, the parliamentary group posted a Bitcoin donation address on their website (see bottom of the postulate). The original german text of the postulate can also be found there: http://www.digitale-nachhaltigkeit.ch/2013/12/bitcoin/

[bryant.coleman]

Switzerland might be the best place in Europe for the legalization of Bitcoins. The Swiss respect individual privacy, and they don't have problems with anonymity of financial transactions. The world banking capital can become the world Bitcoin nerve center was well.

[dego]

The world banking capital can become the world Bitcoin nerve center was well.

Unfortunately that's the only point most swiss lawmakers did not get until now. If Switzerland should stay the finacial hub it once was, it should be open for any form of currencies etc. But I have still hope. Once they realize that good and honest money can be made around Bitcoin, they will jump on the train...

[hieroglyph]

Can't complain, at very least they are having a rational discussion on the matter which IMO is a step in the right direction.  I hope this trend spreads to other governments in a timely fashion.

[LiteCoinGuy]

i hope the best. we saw a big mind shift in the last months, i think its positive in the end.