Following our previous reporting on SIX Group, the Swiss stock exchange operator continues to expand its cryptocurrency-related listings. On Tuesday, trading commenced for its third cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded product (ETP) listing, Amun Ethereum ETP. Coindesk reports that the firm backing the ETP issued a prospectus for its cryptocurrency-based ETPs late last year, stating that the products are not subject to the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes or to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. Separately, SIX selected R3's Corda Enterprise platform to provide the infrastructure for its new digital trading platform, which is set to launch in the second half of the year. Also in Switzerland, blockimmo, Elea Labs and Swiss Crypto Tokens claim to have completed the first set of blockchain-based transactions for a tokenized Swiss property in Zug, also known as "Crypto Valley." A recent report by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences found that the Swiss fintech market grew 62 percent in 2018. The number of "distributed ledger companies" increased threefold and accounted for 34 percent of that growth. At the same time, the data revealed a cooling off in the ICO market.

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission issued a press release regarding its updated list of cryptocurrencies eligible for ICO investment of base pair trades: BTC, ETH, XRP and XLM. The Commission emphasized that the announcement does not certify the cryptocurrencies' legal status in any way. In other news, SWIFT, the Singapore Exchange, four major banks and a securities software provider have partnered up to trial a blockchain proof-of-concept for proxy voting. Additionally, this week a Big Four accounting firm unveiled its Crypto-Asset Accounting and Tax (CAAT) tool. The software helps institutional and individual clients alike consolidate data and generate reports for tax returns related to crypto-asset transactions. Finally, according to a recent study, worldwide blockchain solution spend is forecast to be almost $2.9 billion in 2019, compared with $1.5 billion in 2018.

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