Blockchain Pulse Survey 2025: Swiss financial industry enters execution phase of blockchain adoption

Blockchain is no longer a future bet for the Swiss financial industry; it has become a present-day imperative. The new report “Blockchain for Financial Service Providers – Pulse Survey 2025” shows that the sector has moved from strategic exploration to hands-on execution. 86% of participating institutions now have a formal blockchain strategy in place, and more than 60% have launched a live cryptocurrency offering for clients.

Between August and October 2025, 28 banks and financial service providers in Switzerland took part in the survey – from retail banks to specialized digital-asset players. Almost two-thirds (64%) of respondents see high long-term potential in blockchain, compared with just 37% in 2024, underlining the technology’s role as a foundational layer of future financial-market infrastructure.

At the same time, the survey highlights growing concern around Switzerland’s pace on stablecoins and DLT-based settlement assets: 75% of decision-makers believe that Switzerland is “acting too cautiously” and risks losing its competitive edge to the EU’s MiCA framework.

Key takeaways for decision-makers:

• The strategic debate is over: An official blockchain strategy is now the standard (86% adoption). The challenge has moved from planning to execution, with responsibility shifting from innovation teams to core product units.
• Focus shifts from ‘why?’ to ‘how’: For both cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets, “compliance” has replaced “lack of business priority” as the primary hurdle. Leaders must now deploy resources to solve operational, regulatory, and IT integration challenges.
• Stablecoins are the new strategic priority: The industry’s next phase – settlement – is at risk. 75% of respondents believe that Switzerland is “acting too cautiously”, risking a competitive disadvantage against the EU’s passportable MiCA framework.
• A pragmatic pullback: The market is consolidating resources, pulling back from speculative “advanced applications” (whereby 61% have no plans) to focus first on mastering the foundational layers of tokenization and settlement.

Tobias Trütsch, Managing Director Center for Financial Services Innovation at the the University of St. Gallen (HSG), says: “Our data clearly shows that institutions with their own blockchain teams are making significantly faster progress, while others are still hesitating. This creates new opportunities, but also risks for their future competitiveness.”

The study is a joint initiative by the Center for Financial Services Innovation at the University of St. Gallen, ACK, mintminds, PwC and vision&.

To the study