Spanish Registration Provides Springboard for BVNK’s Expansion Across Europe

BVNK, the crypto-powered payments and banking platform for businesses, announces that it has secured registration in Spain as a Virtual Asset Services Provider. Approval from the Bank of Spain provides BVNK with a springboard for expansion across the rest of the European Union and beyond, and gives customers even greater confidence in the superiority of crypto-enabled international payments.

In comparison to the outmoded technology used by conventional payment services, running international payments on digitally-native crypto rails delivers a host of commercial advantages — for instance, lowering fees, reducing settlement times from days to minutes and simplifying the management of funds across multiple jurisdictions.

Jesse Hemson-Struthers, BVNK’s CEO, said: “Cross-border payments made via the BVNK platform are up to five times faster than Swift with fees reduced by up to 80% . We are aggressively building out licensing and infrastructure to make it easier and faster for more customers to enjoy these wins. Gaining the Spanish registration, and growing our  footprint in the EU, are important milestones in our drive to become the ‘go to’ crypto-enabled payments platform for global business.”

In May, 2022 BVNK completed its Series-A fundraising round which secured USD 40m of investment, putting a valuation on the company of USD 340m. In the last year, BVNK has grown its headcount from 40 to 160 and intends to boost that to 250 in the next 12 months. A number of the new hires will work with other local regulators as it expands into further markets,

During 2022, BVNK has processed billions in annualised payment volume. The BVNK business account supports more than 100 cryptocurrencies and digital assets, including bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and USD Coin (USDC). It can support cross-border payments in over 30 fiat currencies.

From the outset, BVNK built out its technology, features and services with a compliance-first mindset, embedding Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering and other measures into core operations. The Bank of Spain registration provides welcome validation of these efforts, and delivers greater clarity to corporate comp[iance departments.

Maximilian von Both, BVNK’s Chief Legal, Risk and Compliance Officer, said: “At BVNK, we’re readying ourselves for a regulated future in which businesses switch seamlessly between fiat and crypto currencies. The registration in Spain will be the first of many similar landmarks and demonstrates our commitment to becoming a globally recognised business that holds itself against the highest international regulatory standards.”

The choice of Spain as BVNK’s first European Union base reflects its growing heft as a thriving regional fintech hub. With the introduction of a regulatory sandbox for pioneering financial services, Spain has fostered an accommodating regulatory environment; while during the process of granting BVNK’s registration, the Bank of Spain proved to be a willing and collaborative partner.