Disputes and the courts

Read the PDF edition (2 pages)

Disputes involving crypto foundations have reached the Swiss courts only occasionally. Most conflicts are settled by agreement, by the intervention of the supervisory authority or through arbitration. Token holders who consider that a foundation has misused its funds have limited remedies, since they are not members or beneficiaries of the foundation in a legal sense and cannot sue the board directly. They can report their concerns to the supervisory authority, which may act if the law or the deed has been breached. In the Tezos case, the class actions against the project were brought in the United States.¹

Swiss courts have begun to decide questions about crypto-assets in insolvency and criminal proceedings. The Federal Supreme Court has considered how seized crypto-assets may be realised during criminal proceedings. Whether crypto-assets held by a custodian belonged to its bankruptcy estate remained disputed in the literature until the DLT Act clarified the position of crypto-assets held in custody in bankruptcy. Part H reviews the case law.²

Notes

Block & Leviton, press release "$25 Million Tezos ICO Litigation Settlement Achieves Final Approval", 15 October 2020, globenewswire.com: US District Court for the Northern District of California; settlement of USD 25 million; final approval on 27 August 2020. CoinDesk, 1 September 2020: claims first brought in late 2017. ↩
watson.ch, "«Hodl!» Staat darf beschlagnahmte Bitcoin nicht vorschnell verkaufen", 18 November 2021: Federal Supreme Court judgment 1B_59/2021 of 18 October 2021 (crypto-assets seized by the Zurich public prosecutor in a money-laundering investigation may not be sold hastily; early realisation must be carried out with due care and expertise). Dominik Vock, "Aussonderung kryptobasierter Vermögenswerte und Zugang zu Daten im Konkurs", MME, 9 September 2021, mme.ch: whether custodial crypto-based assets could be segregated under Art. 242 SchKG was disputed in the literature before Art. 242a SchKG (in force 1 August 2021). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

English

Contact

Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

Get in touch →

Disputes and the courts

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?