Published
5 years ago on
October 01, 2018
“In April 2018, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), the second largest bank in Spain by assets and capitalization, became the first global bank to use blockchain technology throughout the entire process of issuing a 75 million euro ($87 million) loan. BBVA CEO Carlos Torres then said that blockchain technology was “not mature†and added that it could face major challenges in the future. However, in July, BBVA signed off on a new blockchain-based loan of 100 million euro ($117 million) for a civil engineering firm ACS Group. Prior to that, in June, the bank signed another blockchain-based agreement with Repsol, one of the world’s leading oil and gas industry companies, to renew a credit line worth 325 million euro ($377 million).â€Moreover:
“Earlier in April, Santander confirmed the launch of its Ripple-powered blockchain payment network. One Pay FX, currently available on iTunes, is the first mobile application for international payments powered by blockchain technology. The app, now limited to transferring euros to eurozone countries and dollars to the U.S., shows remittance customers the total cost of their payment, including bank fees and foreign exchange rates, and a delivery time quote. But apparently this is only the beginning: In July, the company announced the creation of a blockchain research team to look into the technology’s potential to change securities trading.â€Will Spain’s banks be the first to truly adopt the blockchain? It certainly looks to be the case. With the rest of Europe now leaning very positively towards cryptocurrencies, Spanish banking groups will want to ensure they still remain in the lead in the race for full adoption, therefore through 2019 we expect the projects outlined by BBVA and Santander to grow in a huge scale. Alongside this, other rival banking groups will no doubt pick up on the technology too, nurturing a healthy competition in the race and in turn, ensuring that Spain stays way ahead of the game and remains as the blockchain capital of the finance world. References Cointelegraph
