In Spain, platforms and issuers of cryptocurrencies will be under the CNMV and the Bank of Spain’s supervision. The regulations may be ready by the end of this year or in early 2022.

The European Union will give powers to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and the Bank of Spain to secure greater control and regulation measures on bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies. The information is part of the draft update that appeared regarding this topic in September 2020.

The digital medium Cinco Días was in charge of spreading on June 21, 2021, part of the content that The European Commission is preparing regarding the cryptocurrency regulation proposal (MICA) and the platforms that work with them.

In it, non-fungible tokens are withdrawn from the coverage of the standard, the granting of licenses to brokers is tightened and portfolio management also appears to be included.

According to the current draft, it is possible that, with this new impetus, the regulations may get ready to operate by the end of the current year or early 2022. To this end, both the issuers of cryptocurrencies and the platforms that provide services with these assets in Europe must be based in a nation that takes part in the European Union.

They must also have authorization from the compliance supervisor. In Spain, the responsible entities will be the CNMV and the Bank of Spain.

The European Central Bank (ECB), for its part, urged Parliament and the European Commission to be clear regarding the definition of what constitutes a cryptocurrency and, therefore, what is subject to MICA and what is not.

In doing so, The European Commission intends to avoid “divergent interpretations”, to bring greater support for the provision of cryptocurrency services on a cross-border basis, and to set a truly balanced list of regulation rules.

The ECB asks not to apply the regulation to digital currencies that are being studied by the world’s main central banks, such as the digital euro, which also appears in the draft.

Creation and Implementation of a Sandbox in the European Union

One of the proposals that also makes an entrance in this regulation is a European Sandbox. There will be a controlled environment under the sole supervision of the State, to check and follow the development of new projects.

The draft eradicates perks to investment service companies. According to the document, brokers must be subject to a new request procedure.

On the other hand, regarding regulation related to cryptocurrenciesGloria Hernández Aler, partner at finReg, a firm specialized in regulatory and financial advice in Spain said that the creation is on its way, and before the end of the year there may be a second advanced official text.

This draft regulatory framework has been around since September 2020. At that time, the European Commission placed stablecoins or stable coins as electronic money. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are being treated as financial instruments.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Total anonymity will not be possible with the digital euro, according to an ECB official. The executive states that bitcoin and other digital currencies are “very dangerous animals”

Fabio Panetta, a member of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Europe (ECB), days ago sustained an interesting dialogue with journalist Martin Arnold days ago, in which he stated that all payments should be traceable to fight against money laundering and tax evasion.

The interview appeared on the website of the financial institution and the conversation circled the digital euro which is in its current research stage. The official thinks that it would be possible to make small transactions with the digital euro through anonymous procedures, but explains there is a risk that a larger payment will suffer a division and turn into many smaller ones.

Panetta says that total anonymity should receive a cautious consideration because there is a balance between ensuring total anonymity and ensuring compliance with fundamental regulations.

Citizens and their Stance on the Lack of Anonymity that surrounds the Digital Currency

The Italian economist adds that, once the digital euro comes, citizens will still be able to use cash, which grants and guarantees anonymity.

According to Panetta, citizens should not have to be afraid about the lack of complete anonymity with digital currency. He says that, with the help of technology, they intend to make people feel safer about how their data is being managed and, at the same time, to pave new paths to reconstruct a payment if the police desire to assess whether there was any illegal behavior.

Asked by Arnold about the possibility of governments spying on citizens and what they do with their money, through the digital euro transaction register, Panetta replied that people should just trust a public entity.

He said that all the actors will ensure that governance structures are in the right place to avoid and prevent any potential data abuse or disruption. He concluded the highlight by mentioning that European legislation is the most advanced legislation in the world when it comes to data protection.

The Digital Euro and Why No Stablecoin Should Start Trading in the Eurozone

“Eurozone residents who have shown a lot of interest in preserving their financial privacy need not worry just yet”. According to Panetta, the current preliminary phase could take at least two more years.

Regarding stablecoins, Panetta still refuses to classify these items as truly a stable financial instrument. The executive doubts the collateral to back up the value of these financial instruments and says that only a currency properly issued by central banks can show true stability.

The economist firmly shows his conviction on this statement even though the devaluation of fiat money, due, among other things, to the chance of being managed in an unlimited way, causes the purchasing power of its holders to fall down year after year, something that goes far from true stability.

By: Jenson Nuñez

MicroStrategy takes advantage of the market downturn to grab more BTC. The bitcoin purchase comes after your senior bonus offering.

The American business intelligence company, MicroStrategy, clarified that it has 105,085 bitcoins (BTC) at its hands. The confirmation came right after announcing the purchase of more crypto assets this Monday, June 21.

The company that Michael Saylor leads acquired approximately 13,005 additional bitcoins in the order of $ 489 million, at an average price of $ 37,617 per bitcoin. The purchase includes fees and expenses as the company explained in a statement.

In this regard, Saylor said that the shareholder base is being in the rotation this way and they hope to transform MicroStrategy into a company that can sell business software and purchase and hold bitcoins, something that in his opinion has been achieved due to leverage.

The executive and promoter of bitcoin to the US network CNBC said last week that the bitcoin business is driving shareholder profitability. He thinks the employees seem to be happy with the situation. The shareholders are also happy.

MicroStrategy consolidates itself as the company that carries the largest accumulation of bitcoins, leaving companies such as Tesla (42,000 BTC), Galaxy Digital (16,000), and Square (8,000 BTC) behind.

The Fed and its Supportive Stance on MicroStrategy

The issuance of seven-year bonds by MicroStrategy took indirect participation of the US Federal Reserve (Fed). At the end of March last year, and as a contingency measure to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank injected capital into the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond.

The measure was part of a strategy to get markets active back again in the face of the looming crisis and the freezing of credit markets, according to a report posted by Bloomberg.

Now, this fund, identified with the JNK ticker, is one of the owners of the debt securities that MicroStrategy issued last Tuesday to acquire bitcoin.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stressed in March this year that bitcoin didn’t reunite the features to rank as a candidate to replace the dollar as a store of value currency. According to the executive, bitcoin has the potential to become a substitute for gold, but not for the US currency.

According to the report, the Fed would also have support in the iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond, another ETF that owns debt securities managed by MicroStrategy. This policy of printing money to inject into the markets is one of the main reasons that would be driving the peaks and the falls in the price of cryptocurrencies

In this way, the agency would be the fourth-largest owner of a listed fund or ETF that holds 1% of its portfolio in these bonds. This means that the Fed, if it were to get the ownership in the ETF, would have collaborated without any intention with the investments that the company has been managing with the main cryptocurrency since the past year.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Amid the crackdown on cryptocurrency miners in China, several mining machines are being shipped to the US, a mass of miners migration seems to be at the door.

The mining power of Bitcoin (BTC) is beginning to shift towards the United States of America amid a strong set of prohibitions and bannings carried out by China.

A report on Monday shared by CoinDesk aligns with crescent speculation that cryptocurrency miners in China are intending to migrate to the United States of America due to the energy measures that the government of the Asian nation is taking against the industry.

CNBC representative Eunice Yoon reported on Monday that a Chinese logistics company in the city of Guangzhou, northwest of Hong Kong, has confirmed that it will bring three tons of Bitcoin mining machines right to Maryland, USA. The representative shared the information through his Twitter.

The commercial director of the firm Compass Mining, Thomas Heller, clarified during an exclusive interview with CoinDesk that the three tons of equipment would represent about 200 units of S19. Heller makes a clear reference to the Antminer S19, mining equipment manufactured by Bitmain that is proficient in mining Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and weighs about 15.2 kg.

Eunice Yoon thinks that even though the weight may seem like a large figure, Fenghua’s shipment is a very small load. The correspondent said that 3000 kg might sound huge, but when compared to the number of miners that go to shipping regularly, it is only a small batch.

Prohibitions Intensify in Chinese Territory

The news comes just as multiple reports are emerging about the Chinese government’s intensifying measures against cryptocurrency trading and mining. This Monday the People’s Bank of China, PBoC, urged institutions to quickly cut payment channels for cryptocurrency trading.

Several provinces in the country are facing banning measures around cryptocurrency mining amid the deployment of a government agenda to reduce carbon emissions. In recent weeks, the Changji local government ordered a complete shutdown of Bitcoin mining activities. And something similar has happened in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai province.

It is also vital to consider that China represents more than 65% of the world’s mining power, so the new policies could pose a significant risk to the Bitcoin network. The closure of mining operations reduces the hash power or “hash rate”, the unit of measurement of the processing power of the Bitcoin network.

 A Migration of Miners to the US Might be Very Positive

In this regard, Heller estimated that at least 50 exahash per second of mining capacity in China have recently been shut down, or the equivalent of 526,000 S19 machines. (One EH equals 1 million TH). That currently represents about 80,000 metric tons of idle machinery.

“That’s if they were only S19. But there are also countless S9s and older generation units, so the total kg amount would be much higher”, Heller added to CoinDesk.

Although some people in the crypto world consider China’s ban measures as a direct attack on Bitcoin, others are claiming that this move could favor the largest cryptocurrency.

David Marcus, the co-creator and board member of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, called China’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining and the industry’s migration to the US a huge development for the flagship cryptocurrency.

By: Jenson Nuñez