Introduction

The DLT Act (Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology) which entered into force on 1 August 2021 has established i.a. a legal basis for the custody of cryptoassets, ensuring customer protection in case of custodian bankruptcy.
With the rise of staking services, FINMA has had to address how these custody rules apply to staking and what FINMA’s current practice in this regard is.
The FINMA Guidance 08/2023 which was published on 20 December 2023 provides FINMA’s interpretation of financial market laws concerning staking, clarifying distinctions between protected custody assets and deposits at risk of insolvency.