{"id":528517,"date":"2025-08-14T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=528517"},"modified":"2025-12-13T22:42:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T21:42:38","slug":"swiss-stablecoins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/policy\/switzerland\/swiss-stablecoins\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss Stablecoins: private rather than state ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

While governments dream of digital currencies, Switzerland can shine in other ways. Stablecoins issued by private players offer more freedom and decentralization than an e-franc driven by the National Bank.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Global finance turns to crypto-currencies. Bitcoin ETFs (stocks indexed to the price of bitcoin) from BlackRock are a hit on the stock market<\/a>. Several companies, including PayPal, JP Morgan and Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale, have rolled out their stablecoin dollars. China has its e-yuan, the EU wants its e-euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about Switzerland? As a recognized financial center, is it in Switzerland's interest to follow the craze and launch its own e-franc? What are the differences between an e-dollar, a crypto-dollar, a stablecoin or a MNBC (central bank digital currency)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original crypto-currencies: bitcoin, ether, etc.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We might as well start from the beginning. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency technology to appear - a decentralized ledger across the internet, called a \u00abblockchain\u00bb. Bitcoin also marked the first case of\u2019use<\/em> blockchain: an entirely digital currency based on this new decentralized register. A cryptocurrency is therefore an asset accessible to anyone, as it is available from a public, decentralized blockchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A multitude of other blockchains and cryptocurrencies have been deployed after bitcoin, such as Ethereum or Solana. These cryptocurrencies are more or less anonymous, more or less decentralized and more or less valued over the long term. The main ones, such as bitcoin and ether, offer a real gain in freedom and privacy compared with state-run currencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dollar stablecoins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, the Tether company came up with a brilliant idea: to deploy a cryptocurrency backed by dollars. Behind every tether issued, there's a dollar in the safe. The company intervenes on the various exchange platforms to stabilize the price of tether. Tethers are issued if demand rises, and bought back and taken out of circulation if demand falls. By trying to keep supply in line with demand, we manage to keep tether prices around 1$.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These company-stabilized cryptocurrencies are called stablecoins<\/em>. Tether launched the first dollar stablecoin USDT, followed by Circle with USDC. Today, PayPal has its PYUSD stablecoin, JP Morgan its JPM Coin and Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale its USDCV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n