Banks

Spanish banks have no problem letting you buy cryptocurrencies. What they don’t want to do is advise you on them.

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In March 2025 BBVA he stuck out his chest. It was the first large traditional bank in Spain that allowed its clients to operate in cryptocurrencies. Then other entities such as CaixaBank and OpenBank followed. In all of these cases there is a crucial detail: one thing is that they let you operate with cryptos. It’s quite another to advise you on how to do it. You cook it, you eat it. That traditional banking has made this move is definitive proof that cryptocurrencies have managed to convince even this very conservative sector. But these institutions are not willing to risk too much, so although they allow their clients to buy or sell cryptocurrencies, they leave all responsibility to the client: they do not advise or advise. And it’s not likely that they will. Nobody wants to advise. A report published by the ESMA and the EBA reveals that the vast majority of entities follow the same pattern: they allow trading with cryptocurrencies, but do not advise clients about them. Of the 110 entities that have achieved authorization of the MiCA regulation in Europe, only 20 have requested to provide crypto advice. 11 provide recommendations (like eToro) and another nine offer portfolio management. There is a clear reason why these entities leave the ball in the clients’ court. Too much risk. Caution is absolute not only on the part of traditional banking, but also of traditional exchanges or trading markets. These entities, which have traditionally been the only resource for users to operate with cryptocurrencies, have never offered advisory services, and one was clear when investing that they assumed full responsibility for their actions. The surprise is that exactly the same thing happens with traditional banking. They ignore it, and they do so because they have no interest in advising: the reputational risk is too high, and the volatility of these assets makes it especially difficult to make reliable recommendations. Crypto analyzes guarantee (almost) nothing. As explained in five days Gliroia Hernández Aler, co-founder and partner of finReg360, “Crypto assets have the value that the market assigns to them. By not having an underlying that can be analyzed, such as an income statement, for example, it is difficult to base advice on objective data. Although there is more and more news that can impact bitcoin, it is difficult to do a quantitative analysis with traditional methods.” MiCA opened the market. Europe wanted to try to regularize that “wild west” that the crypto market had become. To this end, in mid-2023 it approved the MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) regulation, a European regulation to regularize this activity. Among other things, it offers consumer and investor protection and establishes measures to prevent market abuses. Banks as the new exchanges. We had to wait two years to see how the first banks took advantage of this regulation, but little by little more and more entities joined in. The message was clear: you no longer have to resort to “mysterious” cryptocurrency trading markets (exchanges). You can buy at your usual bank. Image | BBVA | André Francois McKenzie In Xataka | A British man was not allowed to look for his bitcoin disk in the trash for years: now he is considering buying the landfill

central banks are fleeing the dollar

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A few days ago we saw how gold had exceeded $4,000 per ounce for the first time in its history and, as it could not be otherwise, it has raised a general alarm in the markets. And there are not exactly a few analysts who are already pointing to $5,000 by 2026. But the real story behind this historic rally is not only that gold is expensive: is that the dollar is losing its neutrality as a world reserve currency. In emerging countries and China is where this is being noticed the most, and central banks react accordingly. A historic rise. gold accumulates a 50% increase so far in 2025, its best year since 1979. However, neither geopolitical uncertainty nor rate cuts nor dollar weakness fully explain the magnitude of the movement. Just like they explain Since Expansion, gold has continued to rise even with the truce in Gazasome recovery of the dollar and a Federal Reserve in standby mode. Something deeper is happening. Central banks lead the purchase. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, central banks They have bought gold massively and constant. In this way, some emerging countries and China diversify their reserves to depend less on the US dollar. According to Goldman Sachscentral banks explain 19% of the expected rise in gold until the end of 2026, buying an average of 80 tons in 2025 and 70 in 2026. Bank of America also matches by pointing to central banks and small investors who push the price up. Gold already competes with American Treasury bonds. The value of central banks’ gold reserves (excluding the United States) reached 3.93 trillion dollars at current prices, slightly exceeding the $3.92 trillion in US Treasury bonds held by foreign governments. Gold has gone from representing 10% of world reserves a decade ago to 24% by mid-2025. It is a structural change in the international monetary system. Preparing for a post-hegemonic dollar world. What is at stake is the global financial architecture. Central banks in emerging economies are betting on a future where the dollar is no longer the neutral currency it has been for decades. Trade tensions between the United States and China, political pressures on the independence of the Federal Reserve and record debt levels Americans feed this narrative. Individual investors join in. A wave of retail investors has recently added to institutional demand. In Japan, where gold exceeded 20,000 yen per gramdistributors such as Tanaka Precious Metals had to suspend sales due to the avalanche of orders. In Hong Kong and Türkiye, traditional gold-buying markets, families They are both buying and selling to take advantage of record prices. Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) they caught 26 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2025 alone, a record figure. Around $5,000. Société Générale has just raised its forecast to $5,000 per ounce by the end of 2026, describing this goal as “increasingly inevitable.” Bank of America aims for the same level, while Goldman Sachs projects 4,900 dollars by December 2026. And in all the projections there is a common denominator: they assume that institutional demand from central banks will remain strong and that individual investors will continue to see gold as a refuge, especially in an environment of great uncertainty. Risk. It’s not all good news for the precious metal. a survey from Bank of America shows that 25% of fund managers consider long positions in gold as one of the most saturated bets in the market. Just like they explain From the Financial Times, historically, when gold moves more than 20% away from its 200-day moving average, as is happening now, corrections of 20% to 33% usually occur. But even with that risk, everything indicates that the world is preparing for a monetary system where the US dollar no longer dominates alone. Cover image | Jingming Pan In Xataka | In Europe we have a problem: we are becoming the Japan of the 21st century

Frankish calls are so problematic in Spain that even national banks have moved token. ING has been the first

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Spain has a problem with fraudulent so -called. From those that They get through companies like indeed to offer us alleged jobs to incessant calls for commercial purposes. Such is the focus that is put in Spain with spam and scam, that the Government has had to move cardforcing these to have to be done with prefix numbers 900 and 800, prohibiting conventional 600 and 700. If this measure will be sufficient or not to determine the time. At the moment, the situation is at the point that even Spanish banking has begun to move card. Who calls me? Is the name of The tool that has launched ING Direct in Spain. To use it, you have to access its application (it is focused for customers of it and not as an open service), and enter the corresponding aid section – who calls me, the phone number we believe suspicious. Ing will match whether or not the number corresponds to one of its agents, showing you at the time if it should be reported by fraud attempt or if you can save that number as an official contact. It is important to note that this security measure only serves the numbers that ING has registered. Other SCAM attempts cannot be detected from here. It is not the first attempt. Monzoa British digital bank implemented a different measure, but also focused on fraudulent so -called. If during a call we acceded to the bank’s app, it showed us a message indicating that it was not they who were calling us. A quite effective way to avoid making any transaction if someone gets through an agent. For the bad luck of the Spaniards, There is no Spanish bank who is doing something similar. Why is government measures not enough. The measures materialized by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function are an important first step, but not a universal solution. No one prevents scammers and unregistered companies for calling for fraudulent purposes from conventional numbers, through Sim Swapping o Use of disposable Sim cards. According to the Ministry, since the Government took the initiative to end the so -called fraudulent, 14 million fraudulent calls have been blocked in Spain, since operators have the obligation to block numbers that do not correspond to any user or service. What is being done. Google has been betting on anti spam functions for years and anti -arud in your phone app. This, automatically block the calls thatprior analysis by AI, may have indications of fraud. He does the same with messages, warning us when the sender is suspicious. On the side of iOS, the wwdc 25 was the great moment for iOS 26 Begin to try to compete until now basic on Android. One of them is that of incoming calls from unknown numbers (anyone, there is no analysis of fraudulent behaviors). From this version, the user can choose that they all leakes so that the interlocutor is obliged to explain who he is and why he calls. It is killing gunflowsbut an aggressive and powerful filter. It is not the only open front. Fraudulent calls are not the only method of popular attack. SMS are another entrance door to scams And, although Google’s app blocks some, They are still a deception of the most common. There are no magical solutions. Spam and SCAM have it more difficult than ever, but the rear doors are inevitable. As we always recommend in Xataka, the sender, URL to which he directs the message, and never give personal data by phone, should be proven more than once. Image | ING In Xataka | Spain pays less than ever in cash and yet there are more and more tickets circulating. We have a suspect

Revolution is not just a threat to traditional banks. Now it is also for Teleoperators

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Revolution has announced that will launch mobile plans from this year. It will, in this first phase and without more confirmations, in the United Kingdom and Germany. Their plans will offer text messages, calls and unlimited national data. Of course, without any fixed contract or commitment to permanence, something that has characterize virtual mobile operators for years. The next step after its esim. In March 2024 Revolution launched its own esim. It thus became the first digital bank to do so, with a target target on trips abroad. This ESIM provided 100 MB for all its users (as long as they install it before May 1, 2024), and 3 GB for Ultra Plan users. It came from the 1global pannus, London company of telecommunications. The ESIM was focused on offering data abroad, not as an alternative to use for user mobile plan. It is something they want to change with their new movement. Mobile Plans. Revolution has announced its entry into the market of virtual mobile operators. It will do it with rates that start from 12.50 pounds per month, and offer full connectivity in the United Kingdom and Germany. Users will have access to a line with their own number, complete integration within the Revolution app itself, and presuming a 20 GB data itinerance for users traveling to Europe and the United States. When. The company has not closed a date for the implementation of its mobile plans, although it guarantees that they will reach the end of this year. Nor has it confirmed what the partners will be responsible for supporting the network connection. From Neobanco to Servicios Hub. Revolut is preceding in the world of Neobancos. The company doubled in 2024being Spain its third market behind the United Kingdom and Portugal, with 4.5 million users in our territory and the ambition to duplicate them in 2025. After launching install payments for credit customersand raise the launch of mortgages and ATMsbecoming OMV is a step that closes a circle. One in which Revolution ceases to be a bank to become a digital service provider. A new threat. Revolution has started in the United Kingdom and Germany, without confirmed plans to land in other markets. However, if you want to conquer territories such as Spanish in the medium term, you will not have it easy. As of December 2024, despite their popularity, OMVs are minority in Spain: Movistar, Masorange and Vodafone Spain centralize the market share. Revolut would go to compete in a specialized niche with ultra-competitive prices as in the case of Digisupport of giants such as Telefónica in the case of O2. Image | Revolution In Xataka | Revolution: What is it, how it works and main advantages and disadvantages

European banks have already defined their plan to depend less on Visa and Mastercard

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Bizum It is a sensational tool for online payments in Spain, but it has a problem: it is not international. Or at least not much. International online payments in the European Union depend largely on two big names: Visa and Mastercard. There is no European system Made in Europe that allows the rapid shipping of money, but it is something that the European payments initiative (EPI) wants to solve. His proposal already has a name, Wero, and his plan is as follows. Context. The European Payment Initiative It was founded in 2020 by 16 banking entities such as BBVA, Santander, Deustche Bank, Grupo ING, Unicredit and BNP Paribas. Its objective is to create a payment system and a European interbank network or what is the same, a platform capable of competing against Visa, Mastercard or PayPal. These are of American origin, so the idea of ​​EPI is to promote the independence and sovereignty of payments. For members “it is no longer a future project, but a need facing all European countries,” as they have exposed in a letter. The problem. That there are many local solutions, but none at European level made in Europe. For example, if we think of payments and money shipments between individuals in Spain and Andorra we have Bizum, but in Italy they have Bancomat, in Portugal they use MB Way, in Sweden it has Swish, in Switzerland they use twint and in other places, such as Germany and Austria, the use of PayPal It is widespread. The proposal of EPI with Wero is “to respond to this challenge through a unique payment solution, all in one, instantaneous and paneuropea, capable of covering over time all cases of payment use that consumers and professionals require.” A second, Wero? That is the name that this “European bizum” received in September 2023. It makes a certain sense: the word consists of “We” (us) and has similar pronunciation to “euro.” In addition, he approaches the word “Vero”, which is “truth” in Latin. He threw himself First in Germany Back in July last year, in France in September and in Belgium in November. Wero is integrated into the banks of the banks, so the experience is, for all purposes, nailed to Bizum’s. Image | Wero And what does it propose? According to exposes the EPI“A unique, safe and avant -garde paneurpea payment platform, with multipurparacities, which can work in all European markets for local and cross -border transactions.” That is, a kind of visa and bizum of Europe for Europe. Although it is not well known yet, Wero has the endorsement of the European Commission and 40 million registered users. In addition, it is already fully functional in both P2P and P2Pro transactions (individuals to companies). However, the reality is that the deployment is being slow. It is normal to be a project of these characteristics, however. For summer of 2025, the EPI plans to launch the payments in electronic commerce in Germany and Belgium to later do so in France and the Netherlands “laying the bases and test points for a viable European solution.” At the end of 2026, EPI intends to add the omnicanal payments, payments at the point of sale or in stores and invoices payments. The idea is to use QR codes and NFC technology. Bizum is international. The efforts are there and Wero is promising. However, and as far as Spain is concerned, it should be noted that Bizum has been international for just a few weeks. At the beginning of the month, Bizum confirmed that it was going to be integrated with Bancomat and MB Way, the payment solutions of Italy and Portugal, respectively. Banco Santander, Abanca and OpenBank already support international shipments. Caixabank, BBVA and Banco Sabadell will do it soon. Cover image | Wero

Operate with Bitcoin in banks like the BBVA is great except for one thing: the ball will always be on your roof

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The BBVA has just become the first large traditional bank in Allow your customers to operate with cryptocurrencies. I announced this week after receiving the so -called Mica license (Markets in Crypto Assets), the European regulation that It was approved in April 2023. This is apparently good news for the entity, customers and the world of cryptodivisas, but be careful. Buy Bitcoins as if they were actions. BBVA customers can now access the sale of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or eth (Ethereum) directly from the same app that they already use to operate with their money and financial products. Everything is unified under the same interface, and the bank ensures custody of cryptographic keys to avoid any type of problem in that regard. But there are other potential problems. And very important. In Xataka Cryptocurrencies: What are they, how others work and also in addition to Bitcoin You stew it, you eat it. The BBVA makes clear In its official statement that “the bank will not carry out any advice work and can only be accessed to the service at the initiative of the client.” That is: customers may not receive advice on whether it is a good time to buy or sell or what budget to dedicate to it, for example. Throwing balls out. It is the client who will have all the responsibility on these operations, and here the bank simply throws balls out. The CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Cortázar, also pointed the same as saying that “the Bitcoin It has volatility That we all know and other cryptocurrencies, too. It is difficult to advise on the fundamentals of Bitcoin. I would not know how to do it and our teams, at this time, either. “The entity at the moment does not offer the option to operate with cryptocurrencies, but does not rule out doing it in the future if their customers demand it. Mifid is not mica. As they point out In five daysthere is a board of the European Union called Mifid II which tries to protect investors in risk assets. To achieve this, use a simple and direct method: each client who wants to invest must fill in a questionnaire identifying their knowledge, their previous experience and its objectives with the investment. That allows from that data the entity can advise on these risk assets. Mica does not have that requirement for cryptocurrencies. But there will be notices. Even so, experts cited in five days highlight that theoretically many banks are working on including some type of knowledge evaluation. Thus, theoretically customers will see notices that will allow them Identify the risks of operating with cryptodivisas. BBVA has not confirmed whether they will adopt these processes. Mica 2 in view. Gloria Hernández Aller, co -founder partner of FinalEg360, commented in that news how the United Kingdom the regulator requires this type of entities that they do make a convenience test to customers before being able to invest in cryptoactive. In fact, it points to that if a Mica 2 appears, “include a convenience test even for the sale of crypts.” {“videoid”: “x801VDM”, “Autoplay”: fals, “title”: “bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrencies everything you wanted to know and never asked”, “tag”: “cryptocurrencies”, “duration”: “2797”} Caution, Bitcoin Buyer Friend in Banks. From Xataka, our recommendation is to take special precautions when investing in the cryptodivsis market: the volatility of these digital assets remains enormous, and the risk is clearly higher than with investments in traditional markets. Hopefully entities such as BBVA clearly warn of these risks in these processes. In revolut or bit2me you have to pass a small test. These two entities have long allowed cryptocurrency to operate, but as they point out in five days, both force the user for processes that help these users understand the risks. In Revolut the user must select among various options and answer some questions. According to the answers, some users can see access to more complex products restricted. In bit2me Customers must undergo an suitability test before they can start operating. Image | BBVA In Xataka | Cryptocurrencies were supposed to “become” independent “from the power of states. The US has just killed him (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news Operate with Bitcoin in banks like the BBVA is great except for one thing: the ball will always be on your roof It was originally posted in Xataka by Javier Pastor .

Banks spent years criticizing cryptocurrencies. The BBVA will soon allow to operate with Bitcoin and ETH from its app

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Almost exactly four years ago that the Bank of Spain (BDE) and the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMV) published a joint statement. In it They warned of the risk of investing in cryptocurrenciesespecially due to its “extreme volatility, complexity and lack of transparency.” Thus, they qualified them as a “high -risk commitment.” Four years later it seems that the opinion of these experts has changed. And a lot. BBVA will allow Buy and Sell Bitcoin and Eth. As the entity indicatestoday the CNMV has approved the BBVA “to provide custody and execution services of cryptoactive sale orders in Spain.” This will initially make the bank offer the possibility of operating with Bitcoin and ETH (Ethereum). The EU opens the door to the crypts in traditional banking. The notification of the CNMV is one of the procedures necessary by the regulation on cryptoactive markets (Mica for its acronym in English). This regulation was activated on December 30, and regulates this type of services in the European Union. This allows BBVA to offer those services, something that has already begun to do In 2021 in Switzerland and in 2023 in Türkiye. All from the app. As they point out in BBVA, customers in Spain can operate directly from the app that they now use to see their accounts, their investments and its traditional bank operation. Thus, they will unify both conventional and those dedicated to cryptocurrencies in the same application that was used so far, and that will have an area dedicated to these efforts. Key custody. The new service will feature an own cryptographic custody platform. In the BBVA they point out that this will allow to maintain control without depending on third parties, and thus be able to safeguard the cryptoactives of its customers. But the responsibility is from the client. In the BBVA they clarify, of course, that the bank will not advise customers, but will focus on facilitating these operations. Thus, although they will offer the ability to buy cryptoactive, they will not make recommendations to customers, thus avoiding possible responsibilities to the well -known volatility of these cryptodivises. It remains to know if the BBVA will warn customers of possible risks in investments like these. Caixabank and Bankinter do not trust. While BBVA takes that step, other entities prefer not to launch to this market. Gloria Ortiz, CEO of Bankinter, He declared recently that “it is impossible to advise anyone about something that has no value” referring to cryptocurrencies. While Gonzalo Cortázar, his Caixabank counterpart, indicated that “Bitcoin has a volatility that we all know and other cryptocurrencies, too. It is difficult to advise on the fundamentals of Bitcoin. I would not know how to do it and our teams, at this time, either.” Bankinter will not offer to operate with crypts to its customers. Caixabank yes, but not proactively. To repudiate them to hug them. In recent years we have lived a 180º turn of the position of financial institutions on cryptodivises. Many continue to show their reservations, yes. The International Payment Bank (BIS) He described This market of a “self -referential” system and highlighted how “no real economic activity” does not finance. Even so, in the US, the approval of the cryptodivisas ETFs already laid the foundations for the general public to access these assets. He strategic cryptoring project Donald Trump makes clear the position of the US government, and more and more banks want to take advantage of this new institutional perception of cryptocurrencies. Image | Bbva | André François McKenzie In Xataka | A British did not let his album search with Bitcoins in the trash for years: now he considers buying the landfill

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