Swiss cybersecurity firm WISeKey opens Blockchain Center of Excellence in Geneva

Swiss cybersecurity, blockchain and IoT company WISeKey has opened a new blockchain center in Geneva.

The Geneva Blockchain Center of Excellence has been launched as part of the partnership with Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) announced last month. BRI and WISeKey had announced their plans to set up interconnected Blockchain Centers of Excellence around the world.

The company is also establishing blockchain centers in India, Mauritius and Rwanda, and intends to set up additional center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Each center is expected to develop particular expertise that can be shared among all centers.

All of these centers will be interconnected via 3 Hubs: Geneva, Toronto and Beijing, a Trust Triangle operating under a Common Trust Protocol, using WISeKey's PKI hardened Blockchain technology, bringing trust and security, while maintaining the core blockchain values of transparency, auditability, and traceability.

The new center, headquartered at the World Trade Center II Geneva, will be officially inaugurated in April 2019, which also marks the celebration of WISeKey's 20th Anniversary.

“The business model of the Geneva Blockchain Center of Excellence is to assist Blockchain startups and research to promote their technologies internationally, facilitate the rapid adaptation and on-boarding of Blockchain-based solutions, foster stronger collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors and cooperate to ensure that the latest technological standards are made available in a safe and trusted manner,” WISeKey said.

In its official release, the company said that one of the ongoing projects of the Geneva Blockchain Center of Excellence is an upcoming Security Token Offering (STO) of WISeCoin AG, a Special Purpose Vehicle formally established by WISeKey in August 2018 to build the infrastructure for secure intra-object interactions.

WISeKey said that it has received a "non-Action Letter" from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). WISeCoin will pursue the STO in Q2 2019.