Bitcoin: Swiss Consortium to solve blockchain banking secrecy

The OTC Swiss Blockchain Consortium announced a new Ethereum-based “encryption module” for their blockchain-based transaction platform for securities that are traded over-the-counter (OTC), as reported in the press release.

Launched in September 2016, the consortium includes Swisscom (Switzerland’s largest Telco Company), SIX (the Swiss Market Exchange operator), and Zürcher Kantonalbank (Switzerland’s 3rd largest bank), but also do the young and innovative companies ti&m, Inventx and Incore Bank. The group is receiving support from Switzerland’s Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), a research organization supported by the federal government.

Now, the companies have jointly developed what they call an "encryption module" that prohibits certain types of information from being seen by other parties. At the same time, the module’s design is said to allow for law enforcement agencies to gain access to that information during investigations.

The tool is now being put before the relevant regulatory bodies – a process that will play out over “the coming weeks”, according to Bucher. Among those involved on the regulation side of the project is the Swiss National Bank, the country’s central bank, which is reportedly overseeing development of the OTC platform.

In the coming weeks, the team plans to tackle the legacy systems of connected banks and integrate their blockchain solution with the aid of the Swiss exchange SIX. They also plan to address legislators to explain the blockchain technology and the benefits it provides to the financial ecosystem.

The development is the latest news out of Switzerland’s growing blockchain scene: the past months have seen bitcoin-buying services being offered by Swiss rail operator SBB and new blockchain work within the country’s finance services sector.