Switzerland scored 75.62 out of 100 and finished sixth in the first-ever SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026, behind the USA, Singapore, the UK, Germany and Japan. For a country that often markets itself as a top-tier crypto and blockchain hub, a sixth-place finish is a pointed result.
The ranking was published on 3 November 2026 by the Swiss Blockchain Federation and reported the following day by finews.com and other outlets. This article summarises what the report said, how Zürich fits into the picture, and what gf6.com’s own directory data can and cannot tell you about the Swiss banking landscape around it. Understanding the SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026 in full requires looking at these details closely.
The finding — what the SBF report shows — SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026
On 3 November 2026, the Swiss Blockchain Federation (SBF) launched its first-ever ‘SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026 – Infrastructure First’ at the Zürich offices of business law firm MME, with AMINA Bank as co-sponsor. The report benchmarks 15 international financial and DLT centres across 11 criteria focused on tokenisation, distributed ledger technology (DLT), blockchain, and digital assets.
The headline numbers from the launch are as follows:
- USA — 85.00
- Singapore — 83.25
- UK — 80.00
- Germany
- Japan
- Switzerland — 75.62
Alongside the ranking, the SBF called for faster FINMA licensing procedures and a workable regulatory framework for CHF-denominated stablecoins to improve Switzerland’s standing. The launch was covered on 4 November 2026 by finews.com, and independently reported by cvj.ch and bitcoinnews.ch.
What it means
A sixth-place finish is not a bad result in absolute terms — 75.62 out of 100 is a solid score in a field of 15 financial centres. But the SBF’s own framing, and its explicit call for faster FINMA licensing and a usable CHF-stablecoin regime, suggests the federation sees the gap to the top five as a signal rather than a comfort. These figures put the SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026 into clearer perspective.
The report was launched in Zürich, at a law firm’s offices and with a Swiss crypto bank as co-sponsor. That matters because Zürich is where most of the Swiss digital-asset banks, exchanges and legal advisors cluster. If the Swiss industry itself is publicly asking for regulatory acceleration, it is widely seen as a message aimed at Bern and the supervisor rather than at foreign competitors.
It is worth being careful here: the benchmark measures a specific, infrastructure-focused view of digital finance across 11 criteria. It is not a verdict on Switzerland’s overall financial system, on the quality of its traditional banks, or on Zürich as a wealth management centre. Those are separate questions that this particular report does not answer.
Readers looking for the physical footprint of that financial centre can browse banks in Zürich in the gf6.com directory to see how dense the city’s banking infrastructure actually is on the ground.
Zürich as the backdrop
The choice of Zürich as the launch venue is not incidental. The city hosts the headquarters of most Swiss universal banks, a large share of the country’s crypto-licensed institutions, and the legal and advisory firms that handle tokenisation and DLT mandates. When an industry federation picks a Zürich law firm to present a benchmark that is partly a lobbying document, the audience is domestic as much as international.
For foreign fintech firms watching the ranking, the practical question is less about the score itself and more about what the SBF is asking for: shorter FINMA approval timelines and a defined path for Swiss-franc stablecoins. Both are concrete regulatory levers rather than vague ambitions, and both would show up in how quickly new digital-asset businesses can set up shop in Zürich.
How to read rankings like this one
Composite benchmarks that reduce an entire financial centre to a single score depend heavily on which criteria are chosen and how they are weighted. The SBF report uses 11 criteria focused on tokenisation, DLT, blockchain and digital assets — a deliberately narrow lens. A different lens (retail banking access, payment systems, deposit insurance, branch density) would produce a different league table.
That is not a criticism of the report; it is simply how benchmarks work. For readers, the useful takeaways are the specific numbers that were published (Switzerland 75.62, USA 85.00, Singapore 83.25, UK 80.00, with Germany and Japan between them and Switzerland) and the specific policy asks (FINMA licensing speed, CHF stablecoin framework). Everything beyond that is interpretation.
Explore the full data behind this article: bank branches worldwide and ATMs worldwide in the gf6.com directory.
Methodology
This article summarises a public event: the launch of the SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026 on 3 November 2026 in Zürich, as reported by finews.com and corroborated by cvj.ch and bitcoinnews.ch. All rankings, scores and quotes are taken directly from that reporting; no figures have been added or recalculated.
Background context on the Swiss banking footprint — including branch locations in Zürich and across the country — draws on gf6.com’s own worldwide directory of around 445,000 bank branches and ATMs, built up manually since 2020 and expanded over four years. The directory is a large but incomplete sample; coverage varies by country and it is not an official or regulatory source.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SBF Global Benchmark Report 2026?
It is the first edition of a benchmark published by the Swiss Blockchain Federation that ranks 15 international financial and DLT centres across 11 criteria covering tokenisation, distributed ledger technology, blockchain and digital assets.
Where did Switzerland rank?
Switzerland finished sixth with a score of 75.62 out of 100, behind the USA (85.00), Singapore (83.25), the UK (80.00), Germany and Japan.
Who published the report and where was it launched?
It was published by the Swiss Blockchain Federation and launched on 3 November 2026 at the Zürich offices of the business law firm MME, with AMINA Bank as co-sponsor.
What policy changes did the SBF call for?
The federation called for faster FINMA licensing procedures and a workable regulatory framework for CHF-denominated stablecoins, framing both as steps that would improve Switzerland’s position in future editions of the benchmark.
Is this an official Swiss government ranking?
No. The report is produced by an industry federation, not by FINMA or the Swiss Confederation. It should be read as an industry benchmark with policy recommendations attached.
Where was the report covered?
Coverage of the launch was published on 4 November 2026 by finews.com in English, finews.ch in German, cvj.ch and bitcoinnews.ch.
This article was produced with AI assistance from publicly available sources and is handled under our editorial standards and AI policy.
I have been online since 1995. For many years, I worked in the e-commerce sector, setting up several online shops, and have always been interested in data analysis. In 2007, I moved to the Seychelles to work from there or as a digital nomad. In recent years, I have increasingly specialised in the financial sector. I manage the Seychelles’ Commercial Register and am also very familiar with the offshore world. GF6.com is a project I have been working on for many years. I built and curated the 445,000-entry bank database myself over a period of six years, and for the past two years or so I have also been using AI to achieve better structures.
More from this author →