Here in Sweden, Finansinspektionen has on several occasions expressed itself very skeptical of cryptocurrencies.

As it usually sounds from government agencies around the world.

But those who believe in this type of new digital, private, money are heard for their belief in the future in the otherwise so conservative banking nation Switzerland, where they have also chosen to embrace the new technology at government level.

- A small country like Switzerland must always be innovative and among the first to dare to try something new, says Swiss Minister of Finance Ueli Maurer to SVT.

Switzerland is in the lead

From an international perspective, Switzerland is at the forefront of regulating the new crypto-based financial industry.

In 2001, legislation was updated in various areas to include assets based on blockchain technology, such as cryptocurrencies.

Thus, the new players can play on the same legal half of the plan as the established, multi-hundred-year-old banks.

The new players can be found half an hour from the old financial center in Zurich, in Zug and the surrounding area.

An area called "Crypto Valley" with allusion to "Silicon Valley" in the United States.

Here you can, if you want, pay tax in cryptocurrency.

A symbolic act, admittedly, but still telling of the authorities' attitude to the issue.

"Internet was invented here - but the deal went to the US and China"

Mathias Ruch is an investor and co-founder of the Swiss Blockchain Federation, which for several years has worked with the authorities to get them on the train.

He was involved in launching the concept of "Kryptodalen" to draw attention to the fact that there is a good breeding ground for such companies.

- More than 30 years ago, the Internet was invented at the CERN Institute in Geneva.

But none of the major global companies built on the technology were started here or in Europe.

That deal went to the United States and China.

With blockchain technology, we have a new opportunity.

Do you mean that it can be as transformative for society as the internet, when it came?

- Yes, we are now entering the third phase of the internet, "internet of value".

In the blockchain age, we can now send value securely over the internet, without intermediaries.

You can create an alternative financial system and eliminate banks.

But to begin with, both will coexist.

So what does the Swiss Minister of Finance say about the risks of the new technology's opportunities to move money, which so many of his colleagues in other countries highlight?

- One must of course be aware of such things as money laundering and crime in these areas.

But you can introduce regulations, which we have done.

And blockchain technology is ultimately actually safer to use than if you act outside a blockchain network, says Ueli Maurer.