Liechtenstein has overtaken Switzerland in the race to attract crypto companies, thanks to a little-known bank. finews.com paid a visit to the rural backwater poised to become Europe's blockchain hub.
The pioneer in European blockchain banking is located at Balzers, in the principality of Liechtenstein (pictured below), straddling Switzerland’s eastern borders, and surrounded by family homes, a light industrial estate and a supermarket.
This is where, four years ago, Bank Frick developed a business model to invest in the future-orientated technological advances emerging in the banking sector. «At the time», bank head Edi Woegerer (pictured below) recalls, «no-one was talking about blockchain». That has since changed dramatically.
Blockchain Hub
Now, crypto aficionados from around the world know all about the tiny principality, which shares a common currency – the Swiss franc – with its larger neighbor to the west. Liechtenstein is now well on the way to becoming the blockchain hub of Europe, and plans push legislation through next summer setting the foundation for building a «token economy».
The initiative is already bearing fruit, and Liechtenstein officially puts the number of crypto companies interested in locating there at around 100 – including several Swiss firms.
One reason for this isn’t even the lack of Swiss blockchain regulations, but rather that Swiss-based banks don’t want to do business with crypto firms. So Bank Frick is now also making a carving out its own «crypto valley» (the original is located in the Swiss canton of Zug). Bank Frick was the first in Liechtenstein ready to offer banking services for crypto clients.
First Mover, Baby Steps
«To be the first mover in Liechtenstein has proven to be correct and is now paying dividends», according to Bank Frick CEO Woegerer. The investments have been recouped, and the blockchain business is now profitable, albeit in small growth steps.
«This will also be the case in the future so that we’re not caught on the wrong foot but short-lived trends in the crypto business world», said Woegerer, who cuts anything but a flamboyant figure in a low-key suit and tie.
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