The Crypto Valley Association (CVA) of Switzerland is the seventh national trade association to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Digital Asset Exchange Association (IDAXA) with the goal to provide a unified voice for the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) industry. 

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The Swiss join six existing IDAXA signatories including Blockchain Australia (formerly known as the Australian Digital Commerce Association), Singapore Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association (ACCESS), Japan Blockchain Association (JBA), Korean Blockchain Association (KBCA), Hong Kong Blockchain Association (HKBA) and the Taiwan Parliamentary Coalition for Blockchain & Industry Self-Regulatory Organization. 

The Crypto Valley Association (CVA) is an independent, government-supported organization located in the Swiss Canton of Zug. Its focus is on developing and executing community-driven programs targeted at establishing and growing the ecosystem for blockchain and cryptographic technologies. Currently, the community consists of approximately 1,500 active and 7,000 passive members, 30% of which are international.

“IDAXA plays a key leadership role in representing the voice of the DLT community towards regulators and allowing both small and big FinTech firms to participate in developing industry standards,” said Chris Gschwend, Head of CVA’s VASP/AML Task Force. CVA’s Executive Director, Alexander Shell, added: “We look forward to connecting our members to the wider crypto community through joint collaboration on a number of topics.”

Taking place at the CVA offices in Zug, Switzerland, the MoU signatories were Ronald M. Tucker, founder and President of Blockchain Australia, Anson Zeall, founder and chair of ACCESS Singapore, Dr Mattia Rattaggi, CVA Board Member, and Alexander Schell, Executive Director of CVA. 

Ronald M. Tucker, convenor of the V20 and founder of Blockchain Australia, said “we are delighted to welcome Switzerland’s peak body to IDAXA. This is an important moment for European representation in the global crypto alignment and it further reinforces our ability to better foster relations amongst governments and VASPs globally to help ensure better economic outcomes in the digital asset economy.”

IDAXA was established by way of an MoU signing at the V20 Summit, which was held in parallel to the G20 Leaders Summit in Osaka, Japan, where VASPs convened along with policy makers and regulators to develop a clear roadmap toward compliance with a new set of recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Under the revised FATF Guidelines, VASPs offering services such as custody solutions and exchange or trading platforms will be required to implement AML due diligence measures, among other requirements.