Safirum Launches Swiss Franc Stablecoin Under Finma Guardrails

CEO Bastien Thiébaud, formerly of Mithras, positioned the token as a regulated alternative to decentralized projects like Frankencoin. Unlike experimental sandbox initiatives, CHF-S secures compliance by restricting access to whitelisted wallets vetted through the self-regulatory organization VQF. Hans Kuhn, former chief lawyer at the Swiss National Bank and current adviser to Safirum, noted the stablecoin leverages an exemption under the Ordinance on Banks and Savings Banks. This structure limits minting capabilities to institutional investors with professional treasury operations, ensuring the project remains within the professional banking framework.

Maverix, a securities house, became the first entity to mint the token, signaling its utility for managing digital assets and Actively Managed Certificates (AMCs). During the launch, Safirum demonstrated transaction speeds of 1.5 seconds, highlighting potential for cross-border corporate payments and tokenized asset settlement. To maintain a 1:1 peg, the company holds backing deposits at Berner Kantonalbank and Banque Richelieu. While the Swiss Bankers Association recently criticized current regulatory processes as cumbersome, Safirum’s model demonstrates that existing requirements can support high-speed digital transactions without bypassing oversight.