Banking groups BBVA and Banco Santander have joined the E.U. International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (IATBA), Spanish economic newspaper Expansion writes Nov. 20. The representatives of two Spanish banking groups were invited to an E.U. blockchain roundtable held in Brussels by Mariya Gabriel, the commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, and Roberto Viola, director of the E.U. Department of Communications Networks, Content and Technology. According to a BBVA press release, during the meeting officials revealed that the IATBA will be launched by the European Commission in the first financial quarter of 2019. The main aim of the association is …

Two energy divisions of German tech giant Siemens have joined a blockchain-driven energy platform to promote the use of decentralized technologies in the sector, according to a press release published Wednesday, Nov. 21. According to Siemens, its Energy Management and Power Generation Services departments are partnering with open-source, scalable blockchain platform Energy Web Foundation (EWF), founded in 2017 to elaborate regulatory, operational, and market solutions for the energy sector. Siemens officials believe that blockchain technology will help increase interoperability in the area, linking consumers with energy producers and network operators, the press release writes. Moreover, the technology could help increase …

Fraud, inefficient and expensive systems, a lack of transparency and slow transactions at busy times are a reality for many business networks around the world – inconveniencing merchants, their customers, and even the middlemen tasked with processing their transactions. Volume limitations have also frustrated retailers who may have considered turning to crypto, while a lack of security has deterred the public. Optherium, a global fintech company, believes that its ecosystem could be the silver bullet to eliminate the main issues facing the crypto world – as well as the old-fashioned economy. According to its white paper, the platform wants to …

Executive Board member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Benoit Coeure considers Bitcoin (BTC) to be the “evil spawn of the [2008] financial crisis,” Bloomberg reports Nov. 15. Coeure reportedly made his acid remarks at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel. The BIS’ general manager Augustín Carstens has likewise previously made a spate of crypto-skeptical remarks, notably characterizing Bitcoin as a “combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster.” Explicitly recalling Carstens’ characterization, Coeure framed his criticisms of the ten year old innovation with a reference to the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in …

The government of Austria is supporting a U.K. cancer research company using blockchain to detect the disease. The government’s support comes as part of its drive to promote the technology, a press release shared with Cointelegraph confirms Nov. 10. Lancor Scientific, which has developed a device to detect multiple cancer types and record screening results with smart contracts on blockchain, plans to open a research laboratory in the city of Graz. Like Google’s Lymph Node Assistant, the cancer screening tool released in October using artificial intelligence (AI), Lancor Scientific’s offering aims for 90 percent accuracy. Lancor will additionally work with …

Private blockchains, such as interbanking platforms set to share information on customers, could be compatible with new E.U. privacy rules, according to research published Nov. 6. The study was conducted by Queen Mary University of London and the University of Cambridge, U.K. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) act, a recent legislation that regulates the storage of personal data for all individuals within the European Union, came into effect this May. According to the law, all data controllers have to respect citizens’ rights in terms of keeping and transferring their private information. In case a data controller fails to do …

Regulation has been a major talking point in the cryptocurrency sphere in 2018 - mainly due to the monumental crypto-craze in 2017. This has come to the fore in Europe, after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) updated its policy on cryptocurrencies in October, which were initially established back in 2015. To understand the implications of these refurbished guidelines, one needs to understand the role of the FATF and its involvement in the regulation of cryptocurrencies. FATF and crypto Established in 1989, by the G7, the FATF is responsible for creating legal, regulatory, and operational measures to prevent money laundering …

Maltese politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Roberta Metsola claimed that decentralization powered by blockchain “provides more security,” Cointelegraph learned during her speech at the Malta Blockchain Summit on Friday, Nov. 2. Addressing the summit, Metsola expressed a positive stance by the European Parliament (EP) regarding the emerging industry of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The Maltese politician revealed that the industry’s issues are “of course” on the agenda of the EP, with its members encouraging to move adoption from “vision to reality.” In her testimony, Metsola declared that European authorities should demonstrate to people that decentralization generated by …

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has been acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH in an “all cash deal,” Reuters reports today, Oct. 29. Nejc Kodrič, CEO of the Luxembourg-registered exchange, reportedly revealed the deal had been closed Oct. 25, but declined to share the full terms. The CEO told Reuters that in 2016 Bitstamp was valued at $60 million, up from $39 million in 2014. NXMH is a family investment holding firm — operating as a subsidiary of Barclays — which has over 2 billion euros in assets under management and makes European consumer and tech investments. As per its LinkedIn profile, …

The central bank of Germany, Deutsche Bundesbank, and securities marketplace organizer Deutsche Boerse (DB) have successfully completed the trial of a blockchain solution in the settlements area, DB’s report reveals Thursday, Oct. 25. According to the report, the trial of blockchain based settlement technology research, or Blockbaster, started in 2016. The main point of the joint research was to conduct on blockchain the full lifecycle of bond issuance, settlement, corporate actions, and redemption, as well as cash transfer including the provisioning of digital coins, transfer between market participants, and settlement of cash payments, the summary states. The transaction volume and …

On October 20, The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) deputy governor, Masayoshi Amamiya, repeated his negative stance towards central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC), claiming that such digital currencies are unlikely to improve the existing monetary systems. The concept of CBDC, or national cryptocurrencies, has attracted many governments across the world. Some of them have already rolled out their virtual currencies, some keep researching their economical impact, while others — like Japan — have decided to dismiss the idea altogether. Here’s what the concept entails, and why major governments choose to implement or deny it. What’s a CBDC? CBDCs, or national digital …

U.K. blockchain startup Setl is about to enter an E.U. settlement system after receiving approval from the French securities regulator to run a central securities depository, the Financial Times (FT) writes Tuesday, Oct. 23. Setl, which develops blockchain solutions for the financial sector, received a license from the Autorite des Marches Financiers and can now connect to the Target2-Securities platform — a €1 billion pan-European network for securities settlement run by the European Central bank with the aim to increase the speed of cross-border payments. As per the FT, official approval for Setl to join the depository will be issued …