The registry of cryptocurrency providers of the Bank of Spain accumulates 49 companies, after incorporating Coinmerce and Bitledger this week.
According to the data collected by Servimedia, the Bank of Spain registry created in October last year for providers of virtual currency exchange services for fiduciary currency and custody of electronic wallets, 53 registration applications have been rejected, either because they have not presented the necessary documentation or because they did not meet the requirements established in the regulations (lack of commercial and professional honor or adequate procedures for the prevention of money laundering). Meanwhile, up to that date, about 80 applications are in the process of being studied.
Individuals or legal entities, regardless of their nationality, who offer or provide virtual currency exchange services for fiduciary currency and custody of electronic purses in Spain and who are established in Spain who provide these services, regardless the location of the recipients. Once the registration application has been submitted, the Bank of Spain has a period of three months from receipt of said application to resolve.
Financial organizations have been warning for a long time of the risks of investing in crypto assets and in a joint statement last March from the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and the General Directorate of Insurance of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, it was stated that they are not suitable as an investment or as a means of payment or exchange for the majority of retail consumers.
The governor of the Bank of Spain himself, Pablo Hernández de Cos, recently stated, after the bankruptcy of FTX, that he hoped that "it would serve to make citizens aware of the risks" associated with these products.
