According to recent news reports, the Swiss blockchain startups Smart Valor has received approval from their country's regulators and will be able to begin operating. The company is going to be regulated by the Financial Services Standards Association (VQF), which is responsible for ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Many industry experts believe that by receiving approval to operate as a financial intermediary, Smart Valor will get more credibility and more individuals, both in Switzerland and abroad, are likely to take interest in what they have to offer. As of now, it's not entirely clear if there are other blockchain-based companies in Switzerland that have been approved as financial intermediaries. Local authorities have declined to make any comments about the matter. One of Smart Valor's goals is to create an online platform centered around alternative investments, such as cryptocurrencies. The company hopes to achieve this by the fourth quarter of 2018. One of their project also involves applying for a banking license, which will enable them to offer a variety of securities investments. They hope to meet this goal by the beginning of 2019. According to Olga Feldmeier, Smart Valor's founder, tokenization has the potential to change the way people see investing. She believes that it's able to change the way individuals own things, improves liquidity and helps make a variety of investment opportunities available to a broad audience. Smart Valor has been founded in 2017 and has worked on a variety of projects, such as the Xapo Bitcoin wallet. The firm was founded with the objective of providing innovative solutions to disrupt the Swiss banking system. Switzerland is one of several countries that is closely looking at and welcoming a variety of blockchain projects. The canton of Zug is home to their famous Crypto Valley, where many cryptocurrency and blockchain-related businesses are based. Many crypto entrepreneurs choose to establish their companies in Switzerland, as local banks are eager to do business with them, which often isn't the case in other parts of the world. Local blockchain companies have helped the Zug government try the technology in its online voting system. A test vote was made, which could pave the way for the use of the blockchain in future referendums.