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Tether-backed crypto exchange is ditching the ‘retail’ label to build the secret plumbing for Europe’s biggest banks

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Tether-backed crypto exchange is ditching the ‘retail’ label to build the secret plumbing for Europe’s biggest banks

Spain’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bit2Me, moved 5.3 billion euros (around $6.24 billion) in trading volume in 2025, an eightfold jump since 2023, as it shifted from a consumer-facing platform to backend infrastructure for banks and law enforcement.

That volume was accompanied by growth in business-to-business revenue, which jumped from 18% of the total in 2023 to 27% in 2025. Crypto-backed loans, a relatively new offering, rose 672% in a single year, with the company’s CFO, Pablo Casadio, saying he sees the crypto industry entering a financial infrastructure phase that the company is taking advantage of, given its backing.

The exchange, backed by various banks including Bankinter, Unicaja, and Cecabank as well as telecom giant Telefónica and Tether, made $25 million in revenue last year.

Read more: Spanish bank Bankinter joins BBVA and Tether with stake in crypto exchange Bit2Me

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Much of that came from a new API product that allows institutions to effectively outsource their crypto operations. Spanish wholesale bank Cecabank, which also holds a stake in the company, has integrated Bit2Me’s infrastructure to offer digital asset services to other regional banks, complementing a similar liquidity deal with BBVA’s Turkish crypto subsidiary, Garanti BBVA Kripto.

The exchange became the first in Spain to secure an EU Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license and spent 3,000 hours on regulatory-compliant work and 2.5 million euros ($2.9 million) to achieve it, Bit2Me executives told reporters during a briefing.

The effort temporarily pushed its EBITDA into negative territory, but opened doors that few crypto firms can access and allowed it to start expanding. The company last week started expanding into the Portuguese market, with plans to enter Italy, France and Germany in the near future.

Bit2Me also unveiled that it has been eyeing the U.S. and Middle East markets, which are far more competitive. “If we do anything, it needs to be done the way we did it in Spain, everything by the book,” Andrei Manuel, the platform’s COO and co-founder, said during the briefing attended by CoinDesk.

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Turning siezed crypto to fiat

It has also been acting as a “crypto liquidator” for the Spanish government. Bit2Me has built a pipeline to convert confiscated digital assets into euros, working directly with Interpol, Europol and national police, its executives added.

The system leverages blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis to ensure traceability. In 2025, Bit2Me processed 1.5 million euros ($1.76 million) in seized crypto on behalf of agencies that include Interpol, Europol, and Spanish police. These funds are converted into fiat currency for the state.

While other governments still auction off crypto through third parties, Spain’s direct liquidation model mirrors the U.S. Marshals Service’s deal with Coinbase.

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Crypto World

Canaan Acquires Cipher Mining’s 49% Stake in Texas Mining Facilities

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Canaan Acquires Cipher Mining’s 49% Stake in Texas Mining Facilities

Bitcoin mining hardware maker Canaan has purchased Cipher Mining’s 49% interest in a trio of Texas mining projects for $39.75 million, expanding its mining interests.

The transaction covers joint venture entities Alborz LLC, Bear LLC and Chief Mountain LLC, together known as the “ABC Projects,” according to a Monday announcement. After the deal, Canaan holds a 49% stake while partner WindHQ, a renewable energy infrastructure company, retains 51%.

“By increasing our exposure to high-quality, low-cost operational power assets in Texas, we are aligning our proprietary technology with critical infrastructure to drive long-term efficiency and scale,” said Nangeng Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer of Canaan.

The three facilities are already operational, with a combined 120 megawatts of power capacity and about 4.4 exahashes per second (EH/s) of hashrate. Canaan also acquired 6,840 Avalon A15Pro mining rigs from Cipher. Those machines were previously deployed at Cipher’s Black Pearl location, which is being converted into an artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (AI-HPC) data center.

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Related: Bitcoin mining difficulty rebounds 15% as US miners recover from winter outages

Canaan funds deal with $40 million share issuance

The purchase was financed through shares. Canaan issued 806,439,900 Class A shares, equal to 53,762,660 American Depositary Shares (ADS), priced at $0.7394 per ADS and subject to a six-month lockup.

According to the announcement, the Texas sites benefit from electricity costs below $0.03 per kilowatt-hour and include wind-powered generation and grid demand-response capabilities within the ERCOT power market. “ABC Projects feature industry-leading power pricing and offer a strong foundation for growth,” Zhang added.

Canaan shares drop 5.7%. Source: Google Finance

Canaan reported a strong fourth quarter of 2025, with revenue rising 121.1% year-on-year to $196.3 million, as hardware shipments and mining output improved. Bitcoin (BTC) mining revenue climbed 98.5% to $30.4 million, increasing its treasury to 1,750 BTC. It shipped a record 14.6 EH/s of computing power and expanded installed hashrate to 9.91 EH/s, supported by a large institutional order in the United States.

Related: Bitcoin miners chase 30 GW AI capacity to offset hashprice pressure

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Bitcoin miners turn to AI as margins tighten

Bitcoin mining companies are increasingly branching into AI and cloud computing as profitability pressures mount. Last week, MARA Holdings acquired a 64% stake in French infrastructure company Exaion, giving the company a foothold in AI services.

The move came amid a broader industry trend. Companies including Hive, Hut 8, TeraWulf and Iren are converting mining facilities and power capacity into data-center operations, and some players such as CoreWeave have already transitioned fully into AI infrastructure.