The guidance provides information on aspects of financial market law that arise in relation to stablecoin projects and the impact of such projects on the supervised institutions.

FINMA said that technical measures are needed to prevent the threshold of CHF 1000 from being exceeded for linked transactions within 30 days (and not just per day). However, this duty only applies to exchange transactions of virtual currencies for cash or other anonymous means of payment.

FINMA also recognised the regulations issued by the SRO-SIA, which have been adjusted to reflect the revised regulatory principles, as a minimum standard.

The attacks are believed to have affected nearly 2000 victims in 71 countries. The cyber actors are known for specifically targeting large corporations, effectively bringing their business to a standstill.

Ransom notes demanded victims pay the attackers in Bitcoin in exchange for decryption keys. 

A number of the individuals are suspected of being in charge of laundering the ransom payments. They would funnel the Bitcoin ransom payments through mixing services, before cashing out the ill-gotten gains. 

The operation took place on 26 October in Ukraine and Switzerland. Most of the suspects are considered high-value targets because they are being investigated in multiple high-profile cases in different jurisdictions.

Authorities from Norway, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland and the United States were involved in the operation.