CaixaBank has been authorized as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider via a new MiCA license issued by the E.U.
CaixaBank has been authorized as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, allowing the firm to offer crypto-asset services under the new common regulatory framework of the European Union, officials say.
The Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) authorized the CASP designation, and the MiCA license “enables CaixaBank to provide services such as crypto-asset custody, order reception, transmission and execution, and crypto-asset transfers,” officials say. “The authorization allows for the offering of custody and trading of crypto assets under a fully regulated framework for clients.”
The bank can grow its “digital asset-based offerings and respond to growing customer demand within a secure, transparent, and fully regulated environment,” officials say. “In the coming months, CaixaBank will begin offering crypto asset services under the MiCA Regulation.”
CaixaBank “has allowed investment in exchange-traded instruments (ETPs) designed to replicate the performance of Bitcoin since last year,” officials add.
The MiCA Regulation, via the European Union (E.U.), is intended to create a homogeneous framework for crypto assets and to boost investor protections against the high volatility of the assets, few compensation systems for investors, and the risks inherent in distributed ledger technology (DLT), officials say.
CaixaBank is part of Qivalis, “a consortium of twelve European banks working on the creation of a stablecoin pegged to the euro, a digital payment instrument based on blockchain technology that aims to establish itself as a trusted benchmark in the European financial ecosystem,” according to bank officials. “Furthermore, CaixaBank is collaborating with the European Central Bank (ECB) on the future launch of the digital euro, officials note.
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