Switzerland's stock exchange plans to launch a trading platform for digital assets – including cryptocurrencies. The alpine nation also has plans for safeguarding tokens.

Stock exchange operator SIX plans to build a digital exchange platform for the issuance, trading, settlement and custody of digital assets, the company said in a statement on Friday. SIX plans to launch the first such services by mid-2019.

The blockchain-based platform is meant to bridge the gap between traditional and new infrastructure. The plan enables existing securities to be tokenized, and for previously unbankable assets to be integrated.

Custody of Digital Assets

SIX's platform can trade cryptocurrencies, but the exchange wants to build the first end-to-end platform. Few crypto exchanges offer safeguarding or custody of assets like bitcoin or ether, sending users to third-party providers. By contrast, SIX said it wants to cover the full spectrum of trading to custody of assets.

Switzerland's exchange is perfectly positioned to grab market share in the currently fragmented space, SIX head of securities and exchanges Thomas Zeeb said. The SIX platform aims to bolster trust in crypto assets, he noted.

The move represents a new era for financial market infrastructure, according to SIX CEO Jos Dijsselhof, who alluded to the expansion in an interview with finews.com last month. «For us it is abundantly clear that much of what is going on in the digital space is here to stay and will define the future of our industry.»