Europe: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup 9th to 15th February 2019

Europe

Welcome to another weekly blockchain news roundup from around the world. Here we present to you all the latest Bitcoin news continent by continent and country by country.

European Union

EU Parliament Member Praises EU Stance on Crypto: A member of the EU Parliament has spoken in favour of the EU’s stance on cryptocurrencies. Eva Kaili, a member of the legislative body spoke out in favour of the supposedly progressive stance adopted by the Union.

Speaking at an event organized by Ripple in London, Kaili said that blockchain’s disruptive behaviour was now being acknowledged by many EU member states. Kaili has long been a cryptocurrency advocate in the parliament which has certain legislative powers in the Union.

United Kingdom

Think Tank to Study Impact of Crypto on Economic Institutions: A UK-based think tank, Institute of Decentralized Economics (IDE) has said that it will study the impact of cryptocurrencies on the conventional economic institutions like banks and regulators.

The new initiative is being backed by fintech startup Sweetbridge and it will explore new potentials of autonomous systems and find real applications to promote. Once the understanding is better, IDE will recommend the right policies to the government.

High School Wins Position in Barclays Blockchain Competition: Blockchain enthusiasts from a London-based high school have claimed the third position in a local hackathon organized by the Barclays Bank and startup Clearmatics.

The prize was won by teenagers from Bedford who were up against much more experienced computer scientists and programmers.

Spain

Central Bank Warns Citizens Against Using Cryptocurrencies: The Central Bank of Spain Banco de Espana has warned citizens against using cryptocurrencies citing a number of issues according to a blog post on its official website.

The post stresses that cryptocurrencies are “unregulated assets” and do not have a deposit guarantee fund which the government promises in every fiat deposit. It also points to the issue of cryptocurrencies not being a legal tender and thus users will have difficulties in buying/selling goods through it as the buyer will have no guarantee of the money.

While Spain does have some progressive regulations for crypto, the overall market penetration is still low because of uncertainty and the central bank’s constant warnings.

Russia

Cargo Shipper to Use Blockchain for Port Logistics: Russian cargo company Baltika has announced that it is working on a new blockchain-based solution for improving and immuting the port logistics in the country.

According to a post in the local daily Morvesti, the company has inked a deal with Iconic, a blockchain company based in Moscow. The new system will store all information related to shipping and port operations on the blockchain and help improve efficiencies and streamline the company.

Miners Concerned Over Russian Internet Shutdown: The Russian cryptocurrency mining community is concerned about government’s plans to shut down the internet for a little while before April 1. 

The planned shutdown is happening because a new digital doctrine is being implemented by the Russian government, one that involves the Russian internet working on its own. To check this, the government needs to shut it down for a while. The crypto community feels threatened because so much of what they do is online and it might cause unprecedented problems.

Luxembourg

Blockchain Framework Bill Passed by Parliament: The Luxembourg parliament has passed a new law that will facilitate the uses of blockchain technology in financial services and other industries.

While the top regulator in the country has issued warnings against cryptocurrency projects like in the country before, the overall attitude is now looking quite positive for the industry.

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