Could Switzerland’s Crypto Valley Become Europe’s Answer To Silicon Valley?

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Zug is a small, picturesque town in central Switzerland which normally doesn’t get many tourists or visitors. Those tend to end up skiing off the slopes of the alps or in the more frequently visited major destinations like Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Basel. Even Lucerne is bound to get more visitors now that Carnival season is underway.

But Zug is all over the financial news as of late, because it is developing what has become known as ‘Crypto Valley’, a part of the city that now boasts more than 400 crypto companies, of which dozens already have a billion dollar valuations. Business media in Europe is wary of possible links to criminality, a common fear among classic mainstream media when it comes to crypto, while consulting and analyst firms like PriceWaterHouseCoopers are admitting its potential.

Switzerland’s #CryptoValley

looks past cold market windshttps://t.co/eHxz9kiKDe #fintech #blockchain @FT @FinancialTimes @CoreLedger pic.twitter.com/Y73URttnhj

— Spiros Margaris (@SpirosMargaris) January 26, 2022

Bitcoin as a means of payment

Of course Switzerland has long been known as a financial powerhouse in Europe. It’s banking secrecy laws mean that many wealthy European families (90% of all the world’s wealth is inherited, not created) store their secrets and excess cash here, far from the prying eyes of Europe’s individual tax authorities.

More unicorns are stalking Switzerland’s #CryptoValley than ever before. 2021 was a good year for crypto - hence the 464% increase in combined valuation of the top 50 companies. https://t.co/LSnSEBSUZV

— Matthew Allen (@matthewallen40) January 25, 2022

A few years after its creation, in 2013 to be exact, Zug saw a company called Bitcoin Suisse move in and its citizens were some of the first Europeans to be introduced to Bitcoin trading in this manner. By 2016, as the Crypto Valley Venture Capital report notes, the city of Zug announced that it would accept Bitcoin as a means of payment.

By 2022, Switzerland’s blockchain industry says it includes 14 companies with a valuation over $1 billion.

You may be reading about Crypto Valley on CryptoTips for the first time, but something tells us it won’t be the last.

SergeyNivens / Depositphotos.com