Swisscom and Four Banks Together Pilot a Reference Rate for Digital Assets

Swisscom, Swiss’ leading telecoms and one of the leading IT companies, and the four banks SEBA, Swissquote, Sygnum and Vontobel have together piloted the Swiss Institutional Digital Asset Reference Rate (SIDAR). 

During a two-week testing period the partners carried out daily fixings for Bitcoin and Ether. The banks acted as data contributors and Swisscom as the calculation agent.

Aetienne Sardon from Swisscom FinTech said: “Switzerland, with one of the most advanced digital asset ecosystems in the world is ideally suited to bring institutional-grade digital asset benchmarks to life.”

In contrast to existing digital asset price sources, the SIDAR is exclusively based on data from regulated banks and financial institutions. As a robust and trustworthy benchmark, SIDAR can be used for creating innovative digital asset linked products, enabling a new wave of financial innovation. Moreover, the SIDAR serves as a unique market indicator, reflecting digital asset market interest and activity among regulated participants.

Christopher Thomas, Head Digital Assets at Swissquote Bank says: "Digital assets are an important and expanding theme at Swissquote Bank. As a pioneer of crypto-assets, we are delighted to collaborate with other Swiss banks and continue to strengthen the Swiss ecosystem.”