OpenVASP Association

The OpenVASP Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the protocol and its ecosystem, based on the needs and requirements of its members.

The OpenVASP Association has the objective to establish and maintain an open protocol for the transmission of transaction information between Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) and other parties. Its particular goal is to facilitate robust compliance with Recommendation 16 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), commonly referred to as the “Travel Rule.” The association was established by founding members Bitcoin Suisse, Lykke, Seba Bank, Sygnum, Avaloq and MME, with the support of the Crypto Valley Association, IDAXA and ACCESS Singapore.

The role of the OpenVASP Association

The OpenVASP Assocation is non-profit organization based on the approach „from the industry, for the industry“ focusing on the following tasks:

  • Maintaining and advancing the OpenVASP protocol as a crypto-financial messaging standard among VASPs, based on the needs and requirements of its members.
  • Providing shared resources for VASPs using the protocol, such as identity verification or standard terms/contracts.
  • Providing a common contact point for regulators and supranational organizations.
  • Funding open-source software implementations for VASPs who want to develop their own systems and to attract commercial partners offering turnkey solutions.
  • Fostering an ecosystem of commercial and non-comercial partners supporting VASPs using the protocol.

The Association is directed by the General Assembly of its members, which is held at least annually. All governance rules are set forth in the Articles of Association.

General Assembly to elect the President and the Board, approve annual report and financial statement, determine membership fees and amend Articles of Association.

Each VASP or Organization Member has one vote at the General Assembly. Individual Members have no voting right.

However, any decision require the approval of at least one third of the participating VASP Members.

Board

Biba Homsy​

Biba Homsy is an attorney at law in Luxembourg and Geneva. She holds two Masters of Laws from French & Swiss Universities with a specialization on European Institutions, and a certification from Harvard Law School. She is a former regulator at the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority FINMA and former Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Suisse Luxembourg (European Hub for Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Ireland, Austria, Netherland).

David Riegelnig

David Riegelnig is Head Risk Management and a member of the Executive Management at Bitcoin Suisse. During his 20-year career, David held several senior management positions at Credit Suisse and was Managing Partner of an algorithmic trading company before joining Bitcoin Suisse. He earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of St.Gallen. David is the author of the OpenVASP White Paper.

Delphine Forma​

Delphine Forma is an experienced compliance officer who worked across different countries and industries including large banks in the U.K. such as Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ and HSBC Bank plc., and blockchain/crypto businesses (exchanges and miners) in Switzerland. She holds a diploma from Sciences Po Lyon, and two master’s degrees specialized in European Criminal Business Law and Frauds and Money Laundering Prevention. Delphine is a Board member of the OpenVASP Association and has served has a Board Member of the Crypto Valley Association. Delphine is passionate about crypto and all blockchain things.

Lukas Hug

Lukas Hug, VP Product Management and Digital Assets AML SME at Sygnum Bank AG has built and manages RegTech products, focused on KYC and AML in the digital asset space. Lukas worked in banking and fintech for various companies and is specialized on platform businesses and digital transformation. Lukas studied business and economics in Basel and has a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the University of St. Gallen.

Philippe Meyer

Philippe Meyer has been working in the Capital Markets industry for more than 25 years bridging IT and business and focusing on innovation. He has been managing awarded projects like Onemarket certificate platform for Unicredit, high frequency trading and electronic brokerage platforms for Credit Agricole. He has a strong technical background used in particular in systems integration. Since a few years he has been closely looking at the Fintech boom analyzing the impacts and the possible responses from the banking industry. Meanwhile he has been fascinated by the blockchain technology and has been helping companies to define their Blockchain strategy. He has moved to Avaloq to continue working on Blockchain technologies within a Fintech platform provider. At first, he has been managing the Avaloq’s Edinburgh development center and he has moved to Zurich concentrating on Avaloq’s blockchain strategy. From his IT background, he still enjoys programming and discovering new languages and frameworks. When not glued to his screen, he loves skiing with his family and now that he has moved from Edinburgh to Zurich, also enjoys discovering the Swiss landscapes.

Lucas Betschart

Lucas Betschart is CEO and founder of 21 Analytics and 21 Lectures, a software development and education company, and serves as a board member of Bitcoin ATM manufacturer Lamassu. He is guest lecturer on the topic of Bitcoin at the Lucerne University HSLU and the Zurich University HWZ, as well as a speaker at various conferences all around the world. Lucas is involved in Bitcoin since early 2013.

Association Members

Contact

For further information or if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us:

delphine.forma@openvasp.org

Become a member

Become an OpenVASP Association member to influence protocol develpoments.

Requirements

Complete and sign the membership Form and supportive documents.

Membership Fees

Voting Members Non-voting Members
VASP Members Organization Members Individual Members
VASP Associations*
No. of Employees Annual Fee Annual Fee Annual Fee Annual Fee
1+ CHF 1’000 CHF 2’000 CHF 500 CHF 100
50+ CHF 5’000 CHF 10’000
150+ CHF 10’000 CHF 20’000
Voting Members
VASP Members Organization Members
VASP Associations*
No. of Employees Annual Fee Annual Fee Annual Fee
1+ CHF 1’000 CHF 2’000 CHF 500
50+ CHF 5’000 CHF 10’000
150+ CHF 10’000 CHF 20’000
Non-voting Members
Individual Members
Annual Fee
CHF 100

The fee for a membership of less then a year is calculated on a pro rata temporis basis.

* Non profit associations representing VASPs or VASP interest

How to join