The Bank of Spain assures that the registration does not imply approval of the activity carried out by the providers of exchange services of virtual currency for fiat. Most of the registered companies are of Spanish origin.
According to a document published by Europa Press, twenty-one crypto companies began to be part of the Bank of Spain’s registry of wallet custody service providers.
In October 2021, the Bank of Spain enabled a new registry for cryptocurrency service providers. This registry seeks that crypto companies comply with the demands and requirements set forth in the regulations for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Since then, the financial institution has been receiving registrations from up to 21 cryptocurrency companies. In mid-June 2022, the registry already had 15 registered providers, but in the last month, that number grew significantly.
Companies such as Rapiven99, Binance (registered under the name of Moon Tech Spain), Shitcoins.club (commercial name of Young Guns), GBTC Finance, and Nebeus (registered as Rintral Trading), are the ones that have registered in recent weeks in the register of the Bank of Spain.
According to the economic newspaper Cinco Días, most of the registered companies are of Spanish origin, five of them are located in Madrid, another five in Barcelona, three in Valencia, one in Alicante, and another in León. Two others are based in the Netherlands, two in Austria, and two in Germany.
Details of the Registration with the Bank of Spain
According to an official document published by the Bank of Spain, registration for cryptocurrency service providers is only conditional on the existence of adequate procedures and bodies for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism. Similarly, it is limited to compliance with the requirements of commercial and professional honorability.
According to said document, “Law 10/2010 includes these providers as obligated subjects for its purposes and introduces an obligation to register with the Bank of Spain. However, it does not establish rules for financial supervision, prudential, corporate governance, technological security or market conduct or information transparency.”
The Bank of Spain Warns against the Risks
The financial entity of Spanish origin ensures that it does not supervise, for example, the financial or operational and security risks of these businesses nor does it have any competence in matters of conduct over these providers.
Similarly, the Bank of Spain clarifies that being in the registry “does not imply any approval or verification of the activity carried out by providers of virtual currency exchange services for fiduciary currency and custody of electronic purses by the Bank of Spain.”
About the risks, it is worth considering that, aside from major assets, cryptocurrencies often have small market capitalizations, and often the developers themselves are anonymous or pseudonymous. This can lead to price volatility, in addition to the general volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
Therefore, in order for cryptocurrency traders not to lose their minds or their investment, they must be aware that their monetary interest is often equal to their emotional interest. They don’t see their assets as funds, but as what they could be: a car, a house, or a debt-free future. This is a fundamentally wrong mindset with which to approach cryptocurrency trading.
By Audy Castaneda
