Stratis Obtains Cryptocurrency Service Provider Registration in Spain

Key Takeaways

• Stratis is approved for cryptocurrency-to-fiat exchange and custody services.
• Investigating the potential for regulated Euro stablecoins and cryptocurrency payments in the Spanish market

Stratis has received registration as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) from Banco de España, Spain’s central bank. Registration follows a rigorous review of Stratis’ compliance policy with respect to anti-money laundering guidelines and other financial regulations. With this registration, Stratis can now offer cryptocurrency-to-fiat exchange and cryptocurrency management services to users in the Spanish market.

The new registration supports Stratis’ plans to offer cryptocurrency payment acceptance services across the Spanish market. In particular, Stratis sees an opportunity to support Spain’s tourism and entertainment sector through cryptocurrency-accepting services, which could make Spain’s nightclubs and leisure venues more attractive to cryptocurrency-based customers.

As part of the VASP registration process, Stratis collaborated with SEPBLAC, Spain’s financial intelligence agency and regulator for anti-money laundering. This participation and registration also lays the foundation for Stratis to use its technology to support the issuance of regulated, one-to-one fiat-backed Euro stablecoins. Use cases include faster, automated, and cost-effective payments using stablecoins, which are fully fiat-backed and therefore more acceptable to regulators.

“We are now in a strong position to enable cryptocurrency natives to make purchases using any digital asset at a variety of stores across the country,” Stratis co-founder and CEO Chris Trew said in a statement. .

“This registration also opens the door for Stratis to explore issuing regulated Euro stablecoins, which will be transformative for fintech across the region.”

Stratis recently announced the launch of a new Ethereum-compatible mainnet specifically designed to support Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and gaming use cases. The new blockchain integrates zkSync, a Layer 2 scaling solution that significantly increases transaction throughput and reduces transaction costs, as well as providing connectivity to other major chains. Stratis’ collaboration with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also underway regarding the issuance of regulated GBP tokens.

Also read: Stratis community votes in favor of transition to Ethereum blockchain.