Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has praised Worldcoin’s effort to enhance data privacy amid recent global regulatory challenges. In a March 29 post on social media platform X, Buterin acknowledged Worldcoin’s commitment to addressing privacy concerns by significantly reducing the data required in its system. According to him: “[Worldcoin] actually has been doing quite a good job of taking the privacy critiques seriously and designing their system to be more and more data-minimal. Modern cryptography is truly amazing.” Notably, Buterin was one of the earliest critics of the project when i ..read more

Worldcoin has publicly recently reaffirmed the legality of its operations across the globe amid rising regulatory concerns that have led some countries to halt its operations in their jurisdictions. The public declaration comes in the wake of a recent decision by Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) to prohibit the startup’s activities within the country for three months. The CNMV’s decision was based on Worldcoin’s failure to secure authorization to provide investment services or engage in securities-related activities in Spain. Despite these hurdles, Worldcoin said it maintai ..read more

Worldcoin developer Tools for Humanity has filed a lawsuit to appeal Spain’s recent ban on its data collection and usage within the country for three months. Worldcoin said in a March 6 blog post that Spain’s regulators circumvented the regular process around EU GDPR rules by issuing their order, leaving it no choice but to file a lawsuit. Worldcoin Foundation and Tools for Humanity data protection officer Jannick Preiwisch said the Spanish regulators’ claims are inaccurate and it is fully compliant with EU’s data protection laws. He added: “It is … unfortunate that [Spanish regulators] are s ..read more

The Bank of Spain’s selection of Cecabank, Abanca, and Adhara Blockchain for its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot is a strategic move towards exploring the benefits and feasibility of digital currencies in the banking sector, according to a Jan. 3 release. The six-month pilot program will simulate interbank payment processing and settlement using a single tokenized wholesale CBDC and other foreign CBDCs issued by different central banks. The partners The inclusion of the three partners was said to be the result of an extensive selection process. Cecabank and Abanca are prom ..read more

Spanish citizens must disclose crypto holdings exceeding 50,000 euros (about $55,000) held on foreign platforms for tax purposes starting January next year, according to an update from Spain’s Tax Administration Agency, Agencia Tributaria. The tax agency introduced Form 721, a declaration form specifically designed for virtual assets held abroad. The form would require legal residents and citizens to officially report their crypto assets held on non-Spanish platforms for tax purposes. Individuals and businesses impacted by this directive must disclose their crypto holdings held abroad as of De ..read more

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com said in a June 23 announcement that it received a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration from the Bank of Spain, allowing it to offer its products and services to users in the country. The Singapore-based crypto platform stated that it underwent a “comprehensive review of its compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and other financial crimes laws” before its registration was approved. Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com CEO, described the VASP registration as the latest testament to the company’s “commitment to compliance and eagerness to wo ..read more

A resident of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago off eastern Spain, was arrested by the Spanish police on April 24 for scamming crypto investors across multiple countries. The arrest was made at the request of law enforcement authorities from different countries that were investigating five other people connected with the criminal organization. Several people in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, and Israel, where the money was ultimately sent, were involved in the scam operation. According to the Spanish police, the organization could have scammed more than $110 million (EUR100 million ..read more

Spain became the number one country in the world that offers the highest number of properties available for purchase using cryptocurrencies — 289 properties, according to Forex Suggest’s analysis. Thailand and Portugal follow Spain as the second and third on the list by offering 227 and 130 properties available for purchase with crypto, respectively, as Forex Suggest reports. Most of these countries’ listings are located in tourist hotspots like Spain’s Marbella and Thailand’s Phuket Islands. Countries with total crypto properties (Source: Forex Suggest) The chart above lists the 19 countries ..read more

The Digital Euro will be free to use and accessible to all, but it would be the lawmakers who will decide what personal information the bank will have access to, the European Central Bank said in a Jan. 23 statement. Member of the ECB’s Executive Board, Fabio Panetta, said: It will then be up to you, the co-legislators, to establish the optimal balance between the protection of privacy and the achievement of other important objectives of a public nature. The executive mentioned important public objectives, such as the fight against money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and tax evasio ..read more

El Banco de España (Central Bank of Spain) has authorized testing of a digital Euro token EURM. The token will be issued by Spanish fintech Monei and was developed within the central bank’s digital ‘sandbox’ program. Spanish news site Cinco Dias reported that the project would be limited to a small group of testing applicants during the initial phase. Applicants are required to enter a phone number and undergo a video-based KYC process before loading their digital wallets with traditional Euros through the  Spanish payment app Bizum. Once wallets have been funded, users can send EURM toke ..read more