
Bitcoin firm gets approval to operate in Switzerland - richardboegli
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-bitcoin-xapo-idUSKBN15B1QB
======
s3nnyy
In Switzerland you can buy train tickets with bitcoin
([http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/further-
servi...](http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/further-
services/bitcoin.marketingurl_$$$en$$$bitcoin.html)) and pay for government
services with bitcoin ([http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/crypto-
valley_zug-first...](http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/crypto-valley_zug-
first-to-accept-bitcoin-for-government-services/42143908)).

Also, many fintech startups a hiring engineers like crazy.

(I live in Zurich and I am a well-connected programmer. If you are thinking to
get a coding job here, feel free to contact me. You find my email address in
my HN profile or here: [https://medium.com/@iwaninzurich/eight-reasons-why-i-
moved-t...](https://medium.com/@iwaninzurich/eight-reasons-why-i-moved-to-
switzerland-to-work-in-it-c7ac18af4f90))

~~~
medb
Just to clarify, you cannot by train tickets with BTC, but you can buy BTC
from train ticket machines. This service has been available for just a few
months, and is provided by sweepay.ch.

BTC seems to be culturally accepted, and Switzerland is the home of Buterin
and Ethereum as well.

I've also heard that some Swiss banks may soon incorporate BTC wallets into
their e-banking solutions (they'll hold your keys for you).

Just thought I would finally add, I have a small service business in Vaud, and
have been accepting BTC since 2013. I have yet to have a single person
transact. Everybody pays with debit cards.

~~~
s3nnyy
When posting, I was actually not sure about exactly this point.

Thanks for clarifying!

------
m_mueller
Switzerland's financial industry is really in need to reinvent itself (due to
the banking secrecy being effectively gone). Not that I have much knowledge of
the bitcoin economy, but offering services around this in a legally stable and
trusted country seems to be a good idea. Swiss traditionally have a strong
distrust in centralized authority (for >500 years it was a very decentrally
organised alliance of 'city' states). I could even see replacing the Swiss
Frank with a digital currency in the long run. In the digital age, giving much
power back to localized states seems more and more compelling to me. Don't
like health insurance system in city A? Hey their neighbouring town has you
covered.

~~~
JumpCrisscross
> _Switzerland 's financial industry is really in need to reinvent itself (due
> to the banking secrecy being effectively gone)_

I take it you are neither Swiss nor familiar with our banks. The selling point
isn't, and shouldn't be, secrecy. It is competent execution. At this, UBS, CS,
Pictet _et al_ are still king.

~~~
kneel
>The selling point isn't, and shouldn't be, secrecy.

I'm definitely not Swiss nor do I know much about the banking system there.
But in the US the secrecy of Swiss bank accounts was widely considered the
only reason to have an account there. This was a Swiss stereotype in the US
for a very long time.

------
richardboegli
Xapo's blog post (who are the firm referenced by Reuters) about it:
[https://blog.xapo.com/xapo-regulatory-status-in-
switzerland/](https://blog.xapo.com/xapo-regulatory-status-in-switzerland/)

------
_andromeda_
W00t! W00t! Can't help but admire the Swiss. Their embracing of capitalism and
the closest thing to laissez-faire should be emulated by all.

