SIX, which owns and manages the Swiss stock exchange, has purchased a minority interest in digital inheritance start-up PassOn.

SIX

Image: SIX has purchased minority stake in digital inheritance start-up PassOn. Photo: courtesy of SIX.

The company has acquired the stake in pre-ICO start-up PassOn, as part of its strategy to develop a digital asset custody ecosystem.

In July this year, the company launched SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) to expand its presence in the digital asset space.

PassOn is a Swiss start-up, which is specialized in the transfer of digital assets as part of inheritances.

SIX Securities & Exchanges product management and business development head Valerio Roncone said: “The challenge in the digital asset space is to ensure clean, transparent and legally binding title to the assets between parties.

“This requirement is identical for counterparties who are exchanging assets whether they are living or deceased. The Distributed Ledger-based solution developed by PassOn will help enable such asset transfer seamlessly.”

The investment of SIX will allow Roncone to become a board member of PassOn/

The Swiss startup has been established for asset transmission and storage on blockchain. It develops an infrastructure that brings inheritance into the digital age and making it accessible to everyone in an efficient way.

PassOn’s technology enables direct and immediate transfer of bankable and non-bankable, traditional and digital assets to beneficiaries.

With the support of latest technologies, PassOn collaborates with with regulators, established market players and lawmakers to build a new global standard.

PassOn CEO Stephan Wippermann said: “We aim to leverage the latest Blockchain and Smart Contract technologies to bring inheritances into the digital age.

“We are preparing our ICO to fund the development of our digital estate planning and inheritance platform. In parallel, we will explore how to use SDX offerings such as listing or secure storage of the PassOn token to leverage the SIX digital ecosystem.”

SIX operates and builds infrastructure services in the areas of securities, payment transactions and financial information to enhance the efficiency and capacity across the entire value chain of the Swiss financial center.