Olga Feldmeier: «Silent Collusion Among Banks vs Crypto»

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin should be more tightly regulated, argues Olga Feldmeier, the CEO of Smart Valor in a finews.ch-TV interview. She also describes a system of silent collusion by banks seeking to shut out their upstart competitors.

Digital tokens need stronger oversight from regulators including in Switzerland, according to Smart Valor founder Olga Feldmeier. A former UBS private banker who defected to the cryptocurrency world four years ago, she is one of the most prominent advocates for tokens in Switzerland and well-known abroad.

More than three quarters of crypto exchanges operate without a legal status – essentially illegally – Feldmeier said, raising dicey questions of responsibility and consequences in the case of a hack, for example: «It's not a good place to be. For all of us players in this space, more regulation and clear guidance is the way to go,» the 40-year-old entrepreneur told finews.ch-TV (see video below).

Feldmeier, who worked as an investment banker at Barclays in London and as a consultant in Munich before moving to Switzerland, said that traditional banking has effectively shut out crypto firms, which they view as a threat to their hold on the financial system. Last year, she founded Smart Valor, which aims to tokenize illiquid alternative assets using blockchain applications in order to make them accessible for retail investors.

«I see a certain silent collusion within the banks in how they try to block this industry because they know this technology has arrived to completely disrupt the way banking and finance is done,» she said.

Background Checks

Asked about concerns by banks that crypto assets don't pass muster with strict anti-money laundering rules, Feldmeier said the argument may have been valid in the past, but no longer cuts it. More exchanges and wallets are licensed, meaning they also have to apply the money-launder rules, she argued. 

«When we talk about ICOs or these fund-raisings, they apply all the same compliance rules and screening as the bank would when they take in customers, so this is just not true,» Feldmeier said.

Click here to watch the full interview with Smart Valor founder and CEO Olga Feldmeier