BBVA, Spain’s second-largest bank, with around $ 840 billion in assets, seems ready and well-prepared to enter the cryptocurrency trading and custody space and environment, according to two people familiar with the plans. Coindesk medium reported this piece of news.

The Spanish bank expects to start its crypto offering outside of Switzerland, a source said. Switzerland possesses relatively comprehensive rules on digital assets; they established these policies thanks to the country’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

 The consulted sources added to the medium that: “There are still some compliance obstacles, so this will not be in December, but I hope that BBVA will be active next month”.

When asked if BBVA was building its solution primarily to deal with tokenized securities and the like, the source said: “This is a cryptocurrency offering.”

But as such, no authorized BBVA spokesperson wanted to comment or confirm the statements of these sources at the moment of this writing.

BBVA is rumored to have integrated the same custody solution for digital assets, called SILO, as Russia’s Gazprombank. Gazprombank is now available with a cryptocurrency trading offer in Switzerland.

It is also worth noting that about six months ago, BBVA began working on the integration of the SILO custody platform, built by central banking software provider Avaloq and Swiss crypto specialists METACO, according to the source. Also, METACO is currently working on an institutional custody solution with London-based Standard Chartered.

Avaloq and METACO declined to comment.

A second source said that the project will likely go live “around Christmas,” but this source also added that there are still regulatory issues that need better improvement. “The project has to go through several processes to get the green light and become a reality,” said the unauthorized source.

But the news is not surprising. It is worth remembering that BBVA is no stranger to the crypto world as they have been one of the financial institutions that have tested uses of Blockchain and are very aware of how the crypto world works.

This bank made a pioneering transfer with Ripple between Spain and Mexico in 2017. At that time, The Bank stated that such transfer took about two seconds when a transference between two countries like this one usually takes about cuatro days or more.

In 2018, BBVA issued a loan of USD 91 million using two types of Blockchain. Also, that same year, it issued a syndicated loan of USD 150 million thanks to the use of the Ethereum Blockchain. It was also one of the Spanish banks to join the Association for Blockchain applications of the European Union.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The company behind XRP is seeking a director of central bank alliances. Central banks are hiring blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.

Ripple, the company behind XRP cryptocurrency, posted a job advertisement seeking a specialist in central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The post appeared on the recruitment portal Greenhouse.io, which specifically shows the offer of a Director of Alliances with Central Banks, in charge of promoting initiatives that impulse banks to issue their national digital currencies.

«The mission of RippleX (development team) is to inspire and enable the community of developers and institutions affiliated to XRP, to be able to collectively build the Internet of Value (IoV), which allows us to transfer value as fast as the information it moves today”.

For such a strong position the required skills, among other remarkable responsibilities are the development of business strategies, marketing, and adaptation to legislation. There must be good relationships with central banks, regulators, technological allies, and other institutions. Also, having sharped skills to manage projects from start to finish and manage the necessary resources.

Besides, more effective communication is essential to educate clients about blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and CBDC. This educational work involves being a regular speaker at conferences, offering statements to the press, publishing on the web and social media.

Ripple Anticipates The Attraction of Banks to Digital Currencies

Even if many companies specializing in cryptocurrencies ever want to develop banking-oriented projects, central banks are turning their eyes to this industry intending to issue their digital currencies.

Ripple is aware of this new trend. Last September, Ripple emphasized interoperability as an ideal requirement for central banks around the world. The publication mentions RippleNet as a response to this need. It also seemed to show how the coronavirus pandemic impacted the world economy.

The obsolescence of central banks and other financial services appears to cause people to grow more interested in cryptocurrencies but at the same time, they consider that the participation of traditional institutions will also inspire confidence in many other users.

Last August, the CEO of Ripple assured that this company “is the Amazon of banks”, about the growth potential that could arise in the coming years for the company.

At that time, it was a fact that the launch of the XRP Pay platform, which is aimed at individual users, works in parallel with the services that Ripple is already providing to banks.

Even if it has been questioned whether Ripple has truly been successful in providing its services to banks, perhaps the intentions to issue CBDCs and national currencies present a new whole set of opportunities for this company and the ecosystem in general.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Any transaction between cryptocurrencies will have to go through KYC. The Association for the Development of Digital Assets questioned the measures.

The government of France, through the Ministry of Finance, will raise the levels of regulation to any operation with cryptocurrencies. The authorities are preparing guidelines that apply to all firms in the bitcoin ecosystem and transactions between crypto-assets or from crypto to crypto.

The provisions would include new KYC (Know Your Customer) measures for companies that make life around Bitcoin and would establish a greater control in all transactions between crypto assets, according to statements by Simon Polrot, president of the Association for the Development of Digital Assets (ADAM).

Currently, the norm establishes that the operations of any cryptocurrency to fiat and that exceed 1,000 euros are those that must comply with the KYC parameters. Now the potential new regulation would not only cover these types of transactions but will also cover those of any amount between cryptocurrencies, no matter how small they are.

The new regulatory wave seems to be a consequence of the terrorist attacks that recently occurred in the European country, the executive reported in an interview with The Block.

Discussions are well underway, so the guidelines are expected to see the light this week. Other agencies such as the Ministry of the Interior and the Prime Minister’s office also participated in the discussions.

Pierre-Guy Bareges, CTO of Digital Service Group, also confirmed the measure and assured that he already received a notification from the authorities. Besides, he explained how the government’s interest in increasing its oversight would have started.

“One of the aspiring digital asset service providers let some people use the services to send money abroad, especially to Turkey and Syria, and then he faced an investigation by the security services,” Bareges was quoted as saying. the digital medium.

The director commented that the police led an operation to arrest these people. The law enforcement body claimed that bitcoin was a tool to finance terrorism, and then the finance minister declared that they need to create more regulations to control cryptocurrencies.

New Bitcoin Regulations in France

The KYC parameters in France will add the presentation of two identity documents that the government issued. The measures are not official at the moment, but they have already set off the alarms of companies that fear that users will leave them to look for better alternatives outside the country.

As they are part of a State decree, the new guidelines do not require parliamentary discussion. In other words, their application would come into effect once they are officially disclosed.

The new licenses of both, the fiat-crypto exchanges and the custodial services should apply by December 18. It is unclear whether foreign exchanges must also comply with the new regulations.

ADAN is a French organization that brings together renowned companies in the bitcoin ecosystem, among which are: ConsenSys, Chainalysis, Ledger, and Coinhouse.

France suffered several terrorist attacks in recent months. In October, an attacker killed three people with a knife in a cathedral in Nice. The incident occurred days after the beheading of Professor Samuel Paty, who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to some of his students.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The Ripio exchange increased its volume at least 5 times in 2020 compared to last year. Rocelo Lopes, from Stratum, assures that companies are more into Tether than in Bitcoin

2017 was one of the most successful years for Bitcoin in terms of growth and evolution: a market with historical records, the community multiplied, and all the media were talking about the cryptocurrency. However, the mythical 2017 could find its replacement by the inescapable success of 2020, or so Latin American exchange leaders perceive it this way.

Andrés Fleischer, Ripio’s director of operations, stated in a laBitconf panel dedicated to the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies in Latin America that the adoption of bitcoin in 2020 exceeded by far the exchange’s expectations.

Fleischer talked about the current year as “even better than 2017”, as Ripio managed to increase its transaction volume five times more in comparison to 2019.

The exchange house also achieved a record in registered users, reporting almost a million people to its system. A large part of these clients appeared in the system during the last two months of 2020, says Ripio’s director of operations.

Bitso also reported new levels of use, going from 4.7 million dollars in trades per day in 2019 to a volume of 10.2 million dollars, all of this in 2020.

Eduardo Arenas, director of the Bitso Alpha platform, assured that the exchange managed to report up to 50 million dollars traded in bitcoin. “It has been a much better year than 2019,” he said, adding that user growth just kept ascending.

Guillermo Torrealba, director of Buda, said that the presence of business clients just increased on exchanges. Even when the majority of users are still natural persons, Torrealba affirms that the largest amount of bitcoin volume in Buda is because of the companies. Rocelo Lopes, CEO of Stratum, agrees with these numbers, stating that Brazilian companies move more than 70% of transactions on the platform.

In the case of Stratum, institutional clients represent only 5% of all users in this market. Likewise, together with Torrealba, they highlighted that in 2017 very few companies worked with bitcoin, it was natural for people to the interested ones in cryptocurrency.

An interesting feature that Rocelo Lopes highlighted in the presentation is that most companies prefer to acquire Tether before Bitcoin. Contrary to the new narrative that investors and institutional firms are filling their pockets with bitcoins.

Lopes states that companies that use cryptocurrency exchanges tend to show more interest in stablecoins because it allows them to carry out remittance operations internationally.

The cryptocurrency market in Latin America is in full growth and keeps growing higher, reaching a noticeable status by exporting both services outside the region and receiving new offers from foreign exchanges.

The commercial movement is allowing the creation of a very robust and solid ecosystem, where an empowered and trusted community stands out in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, declares Andres Fleischer.it seems that 2021 promises to be a year of even more growth evolution and effectiveness.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Giacomo Zucco compared the three little pigs to digital money projects. According to Zucco, only Bitcoin would resist the big bad wolf (government institutions).

One way to tell children about Bitcoin is by simplifying its existence and highest virtues in their eyes. A good example would be using the book “The Three Little Pigs” to teach them about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, just as Bitcoin educator Giacomo Zucco has done.

In recent days, Zucco outlined the history of Bitcoin using the plot of the renowned children’s book that Joseph Jacobs wrote.

An animated video avatar told the story, through which Zucco compared the pigs to forms of digital money. The first of them was E-Gold. The second pig “carried many names” such as DigiCash, HashCash, and B-Money.

As in Jacobs’ tale, a wolf easily blew down the “houses” that the two little pigs built. Only in this case, the “big bad wolf” also carried many names such as the Federal Reserve (Fed), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), among other institutions.

After the failures of the previous digital money projects, the third little pig appeared. His name was none other than the one that everyone knows that one or more people created under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto: Bitcoin.

After seeing where its predecessors had failed, Bitcoin built a house that could withstand the “blows” of institutions that felt threatened. This was a brick fortress that finally withstood the onslaught of the wolf.

The Next “Bitcoins”: History of Cryptocurrencies

With the success of the third pig, the story that everyone knows ends. However, Bitcoin’s continues, Zucco said. Following the success of the invention of digital money by the third pig, hundreds of other pigs entered the scene.

They all wanted to build something new and “improve” what Bitcoin had already achieved. However, their efforts were futile as they were trying to solve problems that no longer existed, according to the Bitcoin researcher. The new little pigs built what are now cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects.

Some of them said that the bricks were too small and that bigger blocks would allow them to finish their fortresses faster. Others said that it was not necessary to build a sturdy fortress but sought uses for the “underlying brick technology” of the house of the third pig: blockchain.

Zucco also mentioned projects that made a profit without ever launching a product, which occurred during the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) rush.

“There were houses made of chocolate, others of fish tanks or barrels with uranium to protect themselves from wolves with radiation … their creators did not even build many of these houses, but they did make a lot of money through pre-sales,” Zucco said.

“Meanwhile, Bitcoin continued to expand its sturdy fortress of true bricks. Eventually, the wolves came back and blew down all the houses that the rest of the pigs had created,” said the bitcoiner and educator.

“The wolves ate all the pigs, except the ones that were sheltering in the Bitcoin fortress,” concluded the writer.

By Alexander Salazar

According to Kaspersky, the devaluation of local currencies will rise more interest in cryptocurrencies. Targeted ransomware attacks are also about to increase in 2021.

According to the report by the security firm Kaspersky, as the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic affect the economy throughout 2021, there could be an increase in crimes that involves bitcoin.

In the Financial Threats Report for 2021, Kaspersky says that attacks aiming at bitcoins will become more attractive to cybercriminals in the coming year. This is taking place while nations are suffering the consequences of a weakening of their local currencies.

“The pandemic is likely to trigger a massive wave of poverty, and that invariably translates into more people turning to crime, including cybercrime. We could see some economies collapse and local currencies plummet. “

On this issue, although the firm does not delve into details about the effects of the pandemic on the economy, it outlines the greater interest that cryptocurrencies generate in the framework of a crisis that the issuance of inorganic money could create. Besides, the firm also highlights the paralysis of many productive systems in various parts of the world this causes.

In this context, analysts think that the focus would be on bitcoin as the most popular cryptocurrency. However, the study makes a difference depending on the type of crime.

 Hackers who operate with ransomware (data hijacking) are then about to change tack and move away from the pioneering cryptocurrency.

This change would respond to the interest of handling cryptocurrencies with greater privacy, such as Monero, so as not to leave traces that the authorities can follow on the blockchain.

 “Then they will convert them into bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies,” says Kaspersky’s publication. In this way, privacy-based crypto assets would become the “transit currencies” for criminals.

The new tactic would seek to counteract the detection capabilities that authorities improved and developed to monitor and seize cryptocurrency accounts. They cite as an example the recent withholding of funds by the United States government.

Instead of requiring victims to pay ransom for their data in BTC, hackers from ransomware gangs will prefer to use Monero (XRM). This trend is on the radar since early this year. In recent months, the increase in transactions in Monero has been associated with a much bigger use of XMR on the darknet (dark web), as the report says.

Increase in Ransomware Attacks

This year appeared to be the year for ransomware attacks. The criminals have succeeded most of the times and also received wide media coverage; the report states that there will be a significant increase in these types of crimes by 2021.

In these cases, it is common to demand payment in cryptocurrencies. Besides, this 2020, the application of double extortion to victims became popular, threatening to leak data in case the victims refuse to pay the ransom.

“Organizations, which can suffer by data loss and grueling recovery processes, are a target, with more cybercriminals targeting them with ransomware or DDoS attacks or even both,” the report says.

By: Jenson Nuñez.