The recently elected president of the Swiss Crypto Valley Association (CVA), Daniel Haudenschild, declared that the crypto bear market has damaged Switzerland’s position as a global blockchain hub. Haudenschild made his comments in an interview with major local media outlet Swissinfo, Feb. 4.

Haudenschild officially took office as the president of the CVA on Jan. 31, stating in the interview that he intends to “heal divisions to prevent Switzerland losing any more ground to other countries” in attracting blockchain projects. According to SwissInfo, his election “followed a period of unrest that saw claims of profiteering and sharp practices.”

Haudenschild told the publication that the crypto bear market has created a “capital gap of billions of francs.” He told reporters that “great ideas are being shelved because they can’t find that funding,” further noting, “we need to bridge that by bringing back investors.”

The CVA’s new president also outlined some of the changes that he intends to bring to the association. Namely, he stated that “there will be a zero-tolerance approach to people who try to enrich themselves on the back of the CVA brand.”

During the interview, the association’s president argued that the organization had stopped lobbying the Swiss parliament and the country as a whole had stopped attracting venture capital, entrepreneurs, skills and talent into its so-called crypto valley. He then argued that the CVA needs to make sure that Switzerland is the best place to do business for blockchain enterprises, and stating:

“If we don’t do that, capital and talent have legs, and we already see it seeping out. I couldn’t get five venture capitalists around a table in [sic] crypto valley right now. They have moved on to London, Amsterdam and Berlin.”

According to him, investors already view Malta and Jersey as better jurisdictions for founding blockchain projects, and that countries like Australia and Liechtenstein are moving further with regulation. Haudenschild stated:

“We need a change in our laws and [sic] that requires more interaction with lawmakers and regulators. We need to make Switzerland open and easy for companies to invest in blockchain projects.”

As Cointelegraph recently reported, Haudenschild unexpectedly resigned as the CEO of the blockchain advisory unit of Swiss state-owned telecommunications company Swisscom in January.

Also, recently news broke that despite the bear market, the number of blockchain-related firms in Switzerland and Liechtenstein has continued to rise.