Regulators around the world continue to keep the pressure fresh on crypto businesses. Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) is the latest to issue a warning on several crypto- and financial market-related businesses for unregistered services. According to the official document, CNMV has issued warnings on 12 entities on Monday for not being registered in the corresponding registry of the commission. The listed entities, which include major crypto trading platforms such as Huobi and Bybit, are unauthorized to provide investment services within Spain. The CNMV’s consulting page states that only registered companies have the authorization to provide services related to …

Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi, regarded as one of the game’s greatest players of all time, has reportedly made crypto fan tokens a part of the payment deal in his financial package with French club Paris Saint-Germain. The information comes from sources close to the matter, according to Reuters. Messi, 34, who had been at FC Barcelona since he was 13, this week signed a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), with an option to extend for a third year. His departure from Barcelona, with which he won four Champions League titles, was sealed after Spanish La Liga’s financial fair …

Uruguayan Senator Juan Sartori has introduced a draft bill to regulate cryptocurrency and enable businesses to accept crypto payments. Sartori joins a growing list of politicians from South American and Spanish-speaking countries who are seeking to bring crypto adoption into the mainstream. The senator is not proposing the use of crypto as legal tender as in El Salvador, however. The crypto-friendly Senator tweeted on Wednesday that “today we present a bill, pioneer in the world, that seeks to establish a legitimate, legal and safe use in businesses related to the production and commercialization of virtual currencies in Uruguay.” The bill …

Spanish lawmakers are backing a new legal initiative to legitimize the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry by proposing a new bill on digital transformation. The new draft bill was introduced by Spanish political party the People’s Party (PP). It aims to drive innovation in multiple industries through regulating emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). As part of the draft bill, the PP proposed to legalize the usage of cryptocurrency and blockchain tech for mortgage and insurance purposes. Specifically, the proposal aims to allow property owners to pay mortgages with crypto and authorize the real …

Janice McAfee, the widow of antivirus pioneer John McAfee, says that she can’t “accept the suicide story” relating to the death of her husband until an investigation has been completed. In a Wednesday Twitter post, McAfee noted that she is still in shock as she expressed her disbelief that the 75-year-old would kill himself because of looming extradition to the United States to face charges of tax evasion and the possibility of life in prison. The outspoken crypto proponent was found dead in his jail cell within hours of a Spanish court ordering his extradition to the U.S. on June …

The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), the governing political body in Spain, is backing a new national digital currency initiative. PSOE, Spain’s oldest active party and the leading force in the Congress of Deputies, has introduced a non-law proposition to launch a national digital currency in response to the ongoing decline in cash usage, local news agency El Economista reported Monday. The party noted that the proposition comes in response to the European Central Bank’s experiments with a digital euro. Carlos Conesa, general director of the financial innovation division at the Spanish Central Bank, recently said that “the decision to …

An executive at major Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has raised concerns about the digital euro and questioned what customer demand it would meet. Pablo Urbiola of BBVA’s digital regulation team has called on European financial authorities to carefully explore the possible issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Urbiola said Friday at a European Banking Federation seminar that, despite the increasing need for a European CBDC, it is not yet exactly clear what kind of customer demand the digital euro is supposed to meet: “Considering all the innovation that is taking place in the payments market, …

According to a report from Spanish international news agency EFE, John McAfee was found dead in his prison cell at the Brians 2 Penitentiary Center on Wednesday. Born in 1945, McAfee founded the software company McAfee Associates in his early forties. His company was responsible for one of the most well-known antivirus software programs at the time. He resigned from the company in 1994 and went on to found software firm Tribal Voice — which was behind one of the internet’s first instant message and chat programs — as well as technology company QuorumEx and security and privacy company Future …

John McAfee, founder of the antivirus software company of the same name, is one step closer to facing prosecution in the United States for tax evasion. In a ruling released on Wednesday, the Spanish National Court approved the extradition of McAfee to the United States. His legal team will have the opportunity to appeal the court’s decision. In addition, Spain’s Council of Ministers will need to approve the extradition before it is final. The U.S. government had been seeking McAfee’s extradition for charges including failing to submit tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and allegedly not reporting income from “promoting …

Spanish stock exchange Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, or BME is set to test its blockchain infrastructure for small- and medium-sized enterprise financing following a successful pilot run back in 2020. According to Finextra on Friday, this next set of trials by BME will involve businesses that are part of the country’s SME financing ecosystem under the aegis of a regulatory sandbox created by Spain’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, this sandbox is seen as an important step in promoting greater fintech development in Spain, with a focus on improving greater competition while reducing …

The Spanish national soccer team will launch the world’s first national soccer team fan token thanks to a partnership between the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Turkish blockchain platform Bitci Technology. The token will launch on Bitcichain, and all tech infrastructure will be provided by Bitci Technology. According to a recent announcement, Bitci Technology will be the exclusive blockchain partner of the team during the initial three-year partnership, followed by an optional two-year period. The partnership also makes Bitci a jersey logo sponsor of the Spanish national team. World-famous football players such as Sergio Ramos, David de Gea, and …

The year 2020 will go down in history for how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Spanish economy. Beyond that, however, there have been important events from a governmental and regulatory point of view, as well as those related to private companies and the adoption of cryptocurrencies. Cointelegraph en Español is presenting you a summary of the events that marked last year as well as highlights from various representatives of the local crypto ecosystem and opinions on what the industry can expect in 2021. January Eurocoinpay asks the Spanish Minister of Economic Affairs to regulate cryptocurrency. February In an interview on …