Switzerland was an early mover on tokenization and has some of the clearest law anywhere. FINMA classifies tokens into payment, utility, and asset tokens - and an asset token, representing a real-world claim, is treated as a security. The 2021 DLT Act went further, creating "ledger-based securities" directly in Swiss law so rights can be issued and transferred on-chain with legal certainty, and adding a DLT trading facility licence. That legal foundation is why Switzerland's Crypto Valley is a serious RWA hub.

Key takeaways

• FINMA splits tokens into payment, utility, and asset tokens; an asset token is a security.
• The DLT Act (2021) created ledger-based securities - on-chain rights with full legal effect.
• It also introduced a DLT trading facility licence for regulated on-chain trading and settlement.
• Private investors often face no capital gains tax, but a wealth tax applies - specifics are cantonal.

FINMA's token taxonomy

FINMA's long-standing guidance sorts tokens by function. Payment tokens are means of payment; utility tokens give access to an application; asset tokens represent assets such as debt or equity claims - and those are securities.

Because an RWA is an asset claim, its token is almost always an asset token, so Swiss financial-market and securities law applies - including prospectus duties under the Financial Services Act (FinSA), subject to its exemptions. This taxonomy is not new guesswork: FINMA set it out in its 2018 ICO guidelines and has applied it consistently since, which is why classification is unusually predictable here compared with jurisdictions still arguing the basics case by case.

The DLT Act's big idea

Switzerland's 2021 DLT Act did something few jurisdictions have: it amended the Code of Obligations to create "ledger-based securities," rights that can be issued and transferred directly on a blockchain with the same legal effect as traditional securities.

This removes a common uncertainty elsewhere - whether an on-chain transfer actually moves the legal right. In Switzerland, for a properly structured ledger-based security (the regime sits in Article 973d of the Code of Obligations, in force since 2021), it does. There is a condition worth knowing: the ledger must meet integrity and transparency requirements - holders must be able to view their rights and the registration agreement, and have genuine power of disposal over their entries - so a poorly designed chain does not automatically qualify. That legal certainty, where you meet the bar, is a genuine competitive edge.

The DLT trading facility

The Act also created a new licence category: the DLT trading facility, which can admit a broad range of participants and combine trading, clearing, and settlement of ledger-based securities on-chain.

It is Switzerland's answer to the on-chain secondary-market problem, comparable in aim to the EU's DLT Pilot and the UK's sandbox but built as permanent law rather than a time-limited sandbox.

Why issuers choose Switzerland

The draw is mature, permanent law plus a deep ecosystem - the Zug "Crypto Valley," experienced advisors, and institutions like the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). SDX is not a sandbox experiment: it operates as a fully regulated exchange and central securities depository under Swiss financial-market law, and has listed regulated digital bonds settling on-chain. For serious tokenization, that combination of certainty and live institutional infrastructure is rare.

The investor and tokenize guides cover access and structuring. Swiss structuring should still go to counsel, but the legal groundwork here is firmer than almost anywhere.

Where to go next

• Next: how to invest in RWAs from Switzerland.
• Compare: how the US compares.
• Glossary: security token.

Sources: FINMA (finma.ch); Swiss DLT Act (2021); Swiss Code of Obligations, as of 2026.