We support and connect startups and established enterprises through policy recommendations, projects across verticals, initiating and enabling research, and organizing conferences, hackathons, and other industry events.
With active connections to similar hubs around the world, we also ensure Crypto Valley’s participation in the global efforts to foster blockchain and cryptographic technology innovation.
The creation of Crypto Valley was inspired by the enormous advantages of global industry clusters — a friendly regulatory environment, network effects, economies of scale, attracting the world’s best talent, building deep pools of capital and a rich ecosystem of resources and know-how for startup companies, nurturing an entrepreneurial culture, infectious energy, and strong trust relationships that make the impossible possible.
Crypto Valley was initiated by Johann Gevers after identifying Switzerland with its decentralized, citizen-controlled political system, its centuries-old culture of individual rights, innovation, and entrepreneurship, its neutrality, stability, and business-friendly environment, and its world-class infrastructure and educational institutions as the ideal environment for building the new generation of decentralized technologies. Gevers moved his cryptofinance startup Monetas to Zug, Switzerland in July 2013, defined the vision for Crypto Valley as a global hub for crypto technologies modeled on the success of Silicon Valley, and started building the Crypto Valley ecosystem in Zug, Switzerland by developing supportive relationships with the authorities, attracting leading crypto startups, helping them setup their operations, developing an ecosystem of expert professional service providers, driving the development of a friendly regulatory environment, and promoting Crypto Valley in the industry and the media.
Through the broad support of numerous individuals, startups, corporates, service providers, industry associations, educational institutions, governments, and regulators — especially the early pioneers Monetas, Ethereum, Bitcoin Suisse, MME Legal, the Digital Finance Compliance Association, the Bitcoin Association of Switzerland, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the canton and city of Zug, the Greater Zürich Area, Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), and the Swiss Federal Government — Crypto Valley has grown into one of the world’s leading ecosystems for crypto, blockchain, and distributed ledger technologies, with dozens of companies in this space now calling Crypto Valley home and thriving in its vibrant community.
In January 2017 the Crypto Valley Association was established as a professional organization to coordinate, accelerate, and scale the further development of Crypto Valley into the world’s best ecosystem for crypto technologies and businesses. The founding members included Bitcoin Suisse, Bussmann Advisory, iprotus, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Luxoft, Monetas, and Thomson Reuters.
