Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is rolling out Tezos (XTZ) staking rewards for users in the United Kingdom and three European countries. In an announcement on May 28, the exchange revealed that users in the U.K., France, Spain and the Netherlands are now eligible to earn interest on their XTZ holdings for depositing and holding the token on the exchange. According to Coinbase, since this feature was launched in the United States back in November, users have earned over $2 million in XTZ staking rewards. What is staking? In blockchains that use a Proof-of-Stake system, staking enables network participants to earn …

The Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), a multinational bank headquartered in Spain, has announced a partnership with Madrid-based research center IMDEA Software Institution to explore zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) alongside other “advanced cryptographic techniques.” Both entities will freely utilize each other's technologies and research to drive innovation as quickly as possible. BBVA plans to offer products based on cryptography The partnership will see the institutions research a number of applications for cryptography in the context of the financial sector, including ways to ensure that data shared within a network is not vulnerable to exposure to third parties. A May 4 press …

Blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare has signed a licensing agreement with Real Betis — the Andalusian soccer team that drew the French star player Nabil Fekir to La Liga last summer. Fekir will be just one of the Real Betis-licensed digital collectible player cards issued by Sorare on the Ethereum blockchain. For each player and each soccer season, Sorare issues one “unique” player card, 10 “super rare” player cards, and 100 “rare” player cards. These can then be traded on secondary markets or used in Sorare’s game. One of these unique player cards — for Belgian goalie Hendrik Van Crombrugge …

A Spanish research team of more than 100 people is developing an app that uses AI and blockchain to predict the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and to help manage lockdown measures. The app, which has the support of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca and the Artificial Intelligent Research Institute, is currently at proof-of-concept phase. It uses blockchain to store and verify digital identities and licenses for individuals to perform certain tasks, such as returning to work or going to the supermarket during the lockdown period. Each identity is in the form of a certificate recorded on the …

The Spanish tax authority has begun sending out warning notices to 66,000 cryptocurrency holders to remind them of their tax obligations. According to Europa Press, the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT) began the campaign on April 1, and will keep firing off letters until June 30 in the midst of the national COVID-19 crisis. The 66,000 notices represents a sharp increase from 2019, the first year of the campaign, when a reported 14,700 notices were sent out. The tax watchdog is also targeting those who earn income abroad and from real estate investments. Taxes don’t stop during a pandemic …

By this point, everyone knows that Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has wreaked havoc on the world economy. The ongoing pandemic On March 13, crypto markets saw an unprecedented collapse alongside the worst day in the traditional markets since 1987. Beyond the markets tanking, the risk of spreading the highly contagious virus has led many countries to tell citizens to stay home — with obvious implications for broader workforce productivity and resulting in the cancellation of many events in the crypto space. Beyond telling businesses to stay closed and people to socially isolate, governments around the world are taking unprecedented …

Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has halted short selling in an effort to secure local stocks from the recession caused by the coronavirus epidemic. The ban will last one month, starting from March 17, with possible extension for additional periods not exceeding three months, Bloomberg reported on March 17. In an email to Bloomberg, the CNMV explained that it made a commitment to take such action: “Due to the extreme volatility taking hold of European securities markets, including those based in Spain, their performance in the context of the situation arisen as a result of the virus COVID-19 and …

Corporates that advocate for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibility initiatives should adopt blockchain technology, the CEO of Spanish blockchain software firm Finboot said on March 5th in a blog post. According to Finboot CEO and co-founder Juan Miguel Perez, to communicate the achievements of ESG initiatives, companies must obtain quantitative metrics that verify their progress and authenticate what they say. That is where blockchain technology comes in. But the introduction of traceability in ESG policies, says the Finboot CEO, is not as easy as they appear, as such implementation involves complicated supply chains. The co-founder of the Spanish blockchain …

Recently, financial regulators around the world have been growing concerned about the role of cryptocurrency in money laundering and financing of various illicit activities. The first two months of 2020 saw many governments acting on these concerns and introducing a variety of legal measures designed to bolster their defenses against financial cybercrime allegedly facilitated by the use of digital money. Russia has become the latest of the major jurisdictions to make a move in this direction, as the Central Bank of Russia unveiled last week a revised set of indicators by which financial institutions are advised to recognize suspicious transactions …

Spanish soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona, or Barca, has teamed up with fintech platform Chiliz to create a blockchain-based token for the sports franchise. As part of the partnership with FC Barcelona, Chiliz created Barca Fan Tokens (BAR) for use on its social mobile app called Socios, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph. “We are really proud to launch the Barca token on the Chiliz blockchain platform,” Chiliz and Socios CEO and founder Alexandre Dreyfus said, referring to Chiliz’s own Ethereum-based blockchain. “This is the ultimate goal and the best confirmation of our long term vision about fan engagement …

Several years ago, a blockchain strategy for Catalonia was revealed to the world, presenting a comprehensive outline of how a government — albeit a local one — can in time switch to being an e-government. Such a model would be backed by various blockchain systems that would accommodate the needs of the citizens for digital identities and voting, and could even be used to follow budgetary spending and recycling. It is a brave and ambitious plan — though, not one that many have heard about, likely due to the lack of information. The first rumors around blockchain implementation in Catalonia …

On Jan. 3 Spain-based CaixaBank added the blockchain-powered finance platform We.trade to its list of services. CaixaBank has now become one of the first banks in Europe to provide its customers access to blockchain technology. Launched in 2017, We.trade is a finance platform powered by IBM’s blockchain technology. It was developed by a consortium of 15 financial institutions from around Europe, like UBS and Societe Generale, and it works to provide businesses with a digital, trustless platform for verifying financial information. We.trade’s open API architecture lets it track and trace goods shipped by any of the 400 logistics companies throughout …