Zach Anderson
Feb 06, 2026 13:31
Circle’s response to Swiss stablecoin session requires equivalence pathway for regulated international stablecoins, warning present draft dangers isolating Switzerland from $300B market.
Circle submitted its formal response to Switzerland’s Federal Council session on stablecoin regulation on February 6, warning that the proposed framework may successfully shut out foreign-issued stablecoins from the Swiss market—together with Circle’s personal USDC.
The USDC issuer’s central objection: Switzerland’s draft guidelines would deal with all non-Swiss stablecoins the identical as unbacked crypto belongings, no matter whether or not they’re absolutely reserved and controlled elsewhere. With the worldwide stablecoin market now exceeding $300 billion, Circle argues this strategy dangers slicing Switzerland off from a serious chunk of cross-border fee exercise.
What Switzerland Is Proposing
The session, which closed February 6, 2026, covers proposed amendments to Switzerland’s Monetary Establishments Act. The modifications would create new licensing classes for fee establishments and crypto companies, plus set up prudential guidelines for fiat-backed stablecoins—what the Swiss name “wertstabile kryptobasierte Zahlungsmittel.”
Circle truly helps a lot of the framework’s core parts: full reserve backing necessities, segregated consumer belongings, enforceable redemption rights, and proportionate capital guidelines. The corporate additionally praised Switzerland’s choice to maintain non-custodial pockets software program unregulated—a place not all jurisdictions have taken.
The sticking level is market entry for international stablecoins.
The Equivalence Query
Circle desires Switzerland to create an “equivalence-based regulatory pathway” that might acknowledge stablecoins regulated below comparable international regimes. Beneath this mannequin, FINMA would assess whether or not a third-country framework meets broadly related aims and supervisory requirements—with out requiring an identical guidelines.
The corporate factors to the EU’s MiCA regulation, which treats e-money tokens as money-like devices, and the U.S. GENIUS Act as examples of comparable frameworks. If Switzerland acknowledged these regimes, stablecoins issued below them could possibly be handled as money-like devices for accounting and operational functions.
As a fallback, Circle suggests a narrower registration or recognition course of—something to keep away from the default classification of regulated international stablecoins as unbacked crypto.
Context and Timeline
This session follows years of Swiss regulatory growth on stablecoins. FINMA revealed complete steering in July 2024 addressing default ensures and cash laundering dangers related to stablecoin issuance. The regulator particularly flagged considerations about issuers utilizing financial institution ensures to keep away from full banking licenses.
The Swiss Federal Council launched the present session on October 22, 2025, partly responding to gaps uncovered by the EU’s MiCA implementation. The brand new “Cost Instrument Establishment” license class would substitute the prevailing fintech license for stablecoin issuers.
The Federal Council expects to submit a dispatch to Parliament within the second half of 2026 on the earliest. For Circle and different international stablecoin issuers, the equivalence query will decide whether or not they can function meaningfully within the Swiss market—or watch from the sidelines as home gamers seize the chance.
Picture supply: Shutterstock