The football ecosystem has stepped up its adoption game as more clubs continue to involve crypto in mainstream operations. Netherland-based top-tier football club PSV Eindhoven has partnered with local crypto trading platform Anycoin Direct, which will pay the club an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin (BTC) in a new sponsorship deal. According to the official statement, Anycoin Direct will remain an official partner of PSV Eindhoven for the next two seasons with the goal of growing awareness of crypto across Europe. By using the crypto platform’s services, PSV Eindhoven will be able to receive the total sponsorship amount in Bitcoin, making …

Following the successful expansion of its cryptocurrency service within its homeland of Switzerland, fintech firm Leonteq has now launched a collaborative effort with ICF Bank — one of Germany’s leading securities trading banks — to bring crypto to institutional investors throughout Germany and Austria. Well regarded for their accolades in the Swiss markets, including being the “world’s first short tracker certificate on Bitcoin in 2017, as well as the world’s first reverse convertible on Bitcoin in 2019,” the firm is now set to make further strides in the emerging space. Following the evolution of a multi-year relationship, Leonteq and ICF …

Emerging economies like Vietnam, India and Indonesia are leading the charge when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption, underscoring important use cases for digital assets tied to remittances and financial inclusion. Finder’s survey of 42,000 people across 27 countries revealed that Vietnam had the highest adoption rate, with 41% of respondents claiming they had purchased cryptocurrency. Twenty percent of Vietnamese said they had purchased Bitcoin (BTC), which was the highest among all countries polled. Although Vietnam’s strong outperformance may appear surprising at the surface, Finder’s survey corroborated other data showing that the southeast Asian country is punching above its weight when …

Cross-border remittance currently stands as one of crypto’s best use cases that will thrust it into mainstream finance. Running parallel to this trend, a new partnership between Velo Labs and two financial institutions has now resulted in a $17-billion remittance corridor between Europe and Thailand. Using Velo Labs’ blockchain-based financial protocol, local financial institutions Tempo Payments and Bitazza will host the cross-border remittance service, connecting Thailand and 27 European countries. The corridor will be hosted on the Stellar blockchain and will make use of Velo tokens and Velo digital credits for the on-chain transactions. The new corridor will be serviceable …

Paris-based derivatives fund manager Melanion Capital has launched a new, European Union-regulated fund that aims to track the price of Bitcoin (BTC) at a correlation of up to 90%. The fund is the first of its kind to be issued under the EU’s investment fund umbrella UCITS — an acronym for “undertakings for the collective investment in transferable securities.” According to the European Commission’s data, UCITS-compliant funds account for roughly 75% of all collective investments by small investors in Europe. UCITS provides a framework for regulation at the European, rather than national, level and places exacting demands on fund managers. …

Troubled global cryptocurrency exchange Binance continues moving fast in curbing services to respond to the ongoing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, partly shutting down derivatives trading. Binance officially announced Friday that it would suspend its derivatives trading across the European region, starting with Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The company clarified that users in mentioned countries cannot open new futures accounts on Binance effective immediately. We're continually evaluating our products and working with our partners to meet our users’ needs. Today we’re announcing that we plan to wind down our derivatives products offerings across the European region, commencing with the Netherlands, Germany, …

This supercar rally has a very distinctive twist: Participants can only use cryptocurrencies. The Run Crypto Rally is a five-day networking event that’s going to span Europe — and it promises to be full of extravagant parties, engaging discussion and high-octane driving. Day one will take lucky guests from London to Champagne, complete with a networking breakfast, club class seats on the Eurotunnel to Calais, a visit to Circuit de Reims-Gueux, and an exquisite meal where each course is paired with a special bubbly. The day ends with a poker tournament. After a hearty breakfast the next morning, the tour …

Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, has called for greater cooperation between western governments and crypto businesses to better leverage the benefits of the ongoing cryptocurrency revolution. In an article published in the Financial Times on Thursday, the famous economist highlighted China’s unified approach to dealing with crypto and blockchain as against the fragmented handling of the novel tech in the United States and Europe. As part of the article, El-Erian called on western governments to adopt a less dismissive stance on crypto and be more open to embracing the innovations coming out of the cryptocurrency space especially in …

Analysts have long decried the European Union’s lack of homegrown tech giants, pointing to the gulf between the EU and counterparts like the United States and China. However, the EU now appears to be making moves to up its investments in innovative technologies. The European Investment Fund (EIF), the EU agency responsible for SME financing, has recently backed a new digital assets and blockchain fund. Fabric Ventures, a venture capital fund based in Luxembourg that invests in digital assets, tokenization projects and other blockchain applications, has secured $30 million from the EIF for its 2021 fund. Other high-profile investors include …

Revolut, a major British banking app featuring cryptocurrency investment, has secured $800 million in a new funding round. The new investment round is led by Japanese financial giant SoftBank and United States hedge fund Tiger Global, which collectively hold around 5% in Revolut, CNBC reported Thursday. The round values Revolut at $33 billion, marking a sixfold increase from the company’s valuation of $5.5 billion in 2020. The newly secured funding will help Revolut continue international expansion as well as further improve marketing and product development, Revolut's chief financial officer, Mikko Salovaara, noted. The company is particularly focused on rolling out …

The European Central Bank, or ECB, joins the growing club of crypto-friendly financial institutions as it announces the decision “to launch a project to prepare for possibly issuing a digital euro.” The ECB’s official tweet noted: “We will look at how a digital euro could be designed and distributed to everyone in the euro area.” According to a press release on July 14, the ECB's governing council has launched the investigation phase of a digital euro project. This phase is planned to last for two years, during which time Eurogroup will design a digital currency focused on “users’ preferences and …

The date is set. July 11 is when soccer fans all over the world can, for a period of at least 90 minutes, forget all about what’s wrong with the outside world and finally get to witness who will be the winner of one of the most widely viewed sports in the world. England and Italy will compete for the honor to win the coveted UEFA European Football Championship 2020, or Euro 2020, trophy, which only comes around once every two years. Here is a little thought experiment for all the casual soccer fans out there: Try to think of …