Stablecoins· Regulation & supervision

Swiss Federal Council opens consultation on new licences for stablecoin issuers and crypto-institutions

On 22 October 2025 Switzerland's Federal Council opened a consultation, running until 6 February 2026, on an amendment to the Financial Institutions Act.

Illustration: cryptobanking.news editorial art (AI-generated, abstract). Not a depiction of any institution or product.Primary source: Swiss Federal Council (admin.ch)

cryptobanking.news Editorial · AI-assisted, source-verified22 October 2025T1RegulatorSwitzerland

Key takeawaysFact

1On 22 October 2025 Switzerland's Federal Council opened a consultation, running until 6 February 2026, on an amendment to the Financial Institutions Act.
2It proposes two new licence categories: payment instrument institutions, which would replace the fintech licence, could issue a special type of stablecoin and would no longer face the CHF 100 million limit on client deposits; and crypto-institutions providing services with cryptocurrencies, under criteria based on those for securities firms but less comprehensive.

Stablecoins
Regulation

Executive summaryFact

On 22 October 2025 Switzerland's Federal Council opened a consultation, running until 6 February 2026, on an amendment to the Financial Institutions Act. It proposes two new licence categories: payment instrument institutions, which would replace the fintech licence, could issue a special type of stablecoin and would no longer face the CHF 100 million limit on client deposits; and crypto-institutions providing services with cryptocurrencies, under criteria based on those for securities firms but less comprehensive.

Primary source: Swiss Federal Council ↗

Against this background, the Federal Council is proposing two new licence categories.

— Swiss Federal Council, verbatimString-matched against the live page 2026-10-23

Key factsFact

Event: Consultation
Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Source: Swiss Federal Council
Source tier: Tier 1 · Regulator / central bank

Who is affectedFact

Issuers of stablecoins (as proposed payment instrument institutions), holders of the existing fintech licence and entities providing services with cryptocurrencies in Switzerland.

Key datesFact

22 Oct 2025Federal Council opens consultation
6 Feb 2026Consultation closes

On the regulatory timeline

More from the sourceFact

“During its meeting on 22 October 2025, the Federal Council initiated the consultation on an amendment to the Financial Institutions Act.”
Federal Council press release

“Payment instrument institutions will be allowed to issue a special type of stablecoin.”
Federal Council press release

“In addition, the existing CHF 100 million limit on taking client deposits will be removed, which should allow these institutions to grow and take advantage of economies of scale.”
Federal Council press release

Verbatim from Swiss Federal Council✓ string-matched against the live page 2026-10-23

Why it matters for banksAnalysis

Swiss banks and fintechs considering stablecoin issuance or crypto custody and trading would face new licence categories and conflict-of-interest requirements if the proposal is adopted; the release gives no entry-into-force date.

Editorial analysis based on the facts above and the sources below; not legal or investment advice.

What remains uncertain

The release does not state when the new licence categories would enter into force.

Sources and evidence

PrimarySwiss Federal Council ↗2025-10-22quote matched 2026-10-23

Evidence types: how we classify sources.

Evidence

Confidence: High Primary source (regulator / official record); quote string-matched against the live page.
Quote verified: 2026-10-23 21:22 UTC
Archived snapshot: Not archived yet
Source type: Primary Swiss Federal Council ↗

Change log (3)

2026-10-24 Switzerland jurisdiction: CH items/deadlines tagged 'Switzerland' (was 'Global'), feed filter + flag, FINMA mapped to Switzerland (entity -> CH page, not EU), C (6f838df)
2026-10-24 Verify run (deploy): verifiedAt refresh, verify snapshots (c2a86c2)
2026-10-24 Jurisdictions: 5 verified Tier 1/2 items (CH Federal Council stablecoin/crypto licence consultation, BNM DAIH ringgit stablecoins + tokenised deposits, FSCA CAS (52685db)

Full evidence record · How we label confidence

AIAI-assisted: summary and analysis were drafted with AI from the primary source and are the editor’s responsibility. AI-drafted from the primary source; quote string-matched by scripts/verify.mjs. Methodology · Corrections · Report an error