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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

Arizona advances bill to hold Bitcoin and XRP in state reserve

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Arizona advances bill to hold Bitcoin and XRP in state reserve

Lawmakers in Arizona have taken a significant step toward formalizing state-level engagement with digital assets by advancing legislation that would create a Digital Assets Strategic Reserve Fund, allowing the state to hold, invest and potentially lend seized cryptocurrencies.

Summary

  • Arizona lawmakers advanced Senate Bill 1649, which would create a Digital Assets Strategic Reserve Fund allowing the state to hold, invest and potentially lend seized cryptocurrencies.
  • The fund would be administered by the State Treasurer and capitalized using confiscated or forfeited crypto assets rather than taxpayer funds.
  • Eligible assets include Bitcoin, XRP and DigiByte, marking a notable step toward formal state-level recognition of digital assets.

Arizona senate backs crypto reserve fund

The measure, Senate Bill 1649 (SB1649), cleared the Senate Finance Committee in a 4–2 vote and was subsequently approved by the Senate Rules Committee, moving it closer to a full Senate vote.

Under the proposed law, the Arizona State Treasurer would administer the reserve, using assets that have been confiscated, forfeited or surrendered through criminal or civil enforcement actions. Instead of relying on taxpayer dollars to acquire crypto on the open market, the fund would be capitalized with these seized holdings.

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Eligible assets named in the bill include Bitcoin (BTC), XRP (XRP) and DigiByte, alongside other digital assets that meet specified “fair value” criteria such as stablecoins and non-fungible tokens.

The inclusion of XRP in the reserve’s eligibility framework marks a notable development for the token, as it would represent one of the first instances of a U.S. government entity formally recognizing it as a potential reserve asset.

While the legislation does not require the state to immediately purchase or hold these assets, it establishes a legal structure for doing so in the future.

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The bill’s progress highlights a broader trend in U.S. crypto policy, with several states exploring ways to integrate digital assets into public finance strategies.

However, similar initiatives in Arizona have faced pushback in the past from Governor Katie Hobbs, who has expressed caution about exposing state funds to cryptocurrency volatility. SB1649 must still pass both chambers of the legislature and survive executive review before becoming law.

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Ethereum Foundation starts 70,000 ETH staking process to fund operations, bolster network

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Ethereum Foundation starts 70,000 ETH staking process to fund operations, bolster network

The Ethereum Foundation has started staking part of its treasury holdings, putting around 70,000 ETH to work as part of its plan to support ongoing operations in the Ethereum ecosystem.

The staking commenced with a 2,016 ETH deposit, and uses Dirk and Vouch, open-source validator tools developed by infrastructure firm Attestant, the Foundation said.

Dirk functions as a distributed signer that allows for coordination across multiple jurisdictions and reduces single points of failure, while Vouch handles validator duties.

The decision follows the public release of the Foundation’s treasury policy last year to manage crypto and fiat holdings in a way that balances long-term sustainability with Ethereum-aligned values such as decentralization, open-source access and user privacy.

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Rather than letting ETH sit idle, the Foundation now plans to earn staking rewards and redirect those back into funding protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants.

Based on the CoinDesk Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR), the current staking yield of the Ethereum validator population is around 2.808%. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows the Ethereum Foundation currently has 172,650 ETH it could deploy, along with an additional 10,000 wrapped ether (WETH).

The staking setup uses a combination of hosted infrastructure and self-managed hardware, including minority clients, spread across several countries, the Foundation said.

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Hashgraph Group Launches Hedera Tool for EU Digital Product Passports

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Hashgraph Group Launches Hedera Tool for EU Digital Product Passports

The Hashgraph Group, a Swiss technology company building on the Hedera network, launched TrackTrace, a platform aimed at helping prepare for upcoming European Union product-compliance requirements tied to digital product passports.

TrackTrace is designed to improve supply-chain visibility by tracking goods and recording product data, including emissions-related information, in a way that can be used for compliance reporting and authenticity checks, the company said in a Tuesday announcement.

The platform builds verifiable audit trails for product-specific data, sustainability credentials, durability and reparability, while incorporating agentic artificial intelligence (AI) to automate workflows for compliance reporting.

The blockchain-based solution comes in response to the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR), which went into effect on July 18, 2024. The ESPR creates a framework for product-specific rules that can include a Digital Product Passport (DPP) to standardize how key product information is recorded and shared across multiple supply chains.

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A major early milestone is the EU’s battery passport requirement under the EU Battery Regulation, which is set to apply from Feb. 18, 2027, for certain categories including electric-vehicle and industrial batteries above 2 kilowatt-hours.

DPP requirements will extend to textiles, apparel, iron, steel and other priority items starting July 2027.

Related: EU to ban anonymous crypto accounts and privacy coins by 2027

EU climate targets drive data demands

The EU’s Green Deal aims to transform the bloc into a more resource-efficient economy and cut emissions by at least 50% by 2030. It also aims to reach net carbon neutrality by 2050 through the European Climate Act.

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“The European Green Deal strives to establish the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and needs infrastructure it can trust to transform Europe into a modern, efficient, and sustainable economy,” wrote Stefan Deiss, co-founder and CEO at The Hashgraph Group.

“With TrackTrace built on Hedera, we deliver that critical trust data infrastructure layer that enables companies to comply with DPP regulation, while strengthening global supply chain integrity and fostering the transition to a sustainable, transparent, and circular economy.”

Businesses targeting EU markets will have to rely on solutions such as TrackTrace to ensure compliance with the ESPR.

The Hashgraph Group said it is working with PwC on digital product passport implementations for enterprise clients and that TrackTrace can support traceability across a product’s lifecycle. Cointelegraph reached out to The Hashgraph Group for more details on the collaboration.

Related: Bitcoin treasuries log rare selling streak as BTC trades near $66K

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TrackTrace builds on identity tools

TrackTrace has integrated The Hashgraph Group’s existing decentralized identity solution, IDTrust, to provide verifiable credentials in a decentralized manner.

This enables the linkage between physical events and digital records in a tamper-proof environment, where digital business processes and immutable data audit trails are anchored on the Hedera network.

Hedera claims to be the world’s most energy-efficient distributed ledger technology (DLT) that is governed by a council of leading global organisations including Dell, Deutsche Telecom, EDF, FedEx, Google, Hitachi, IBM, Mondelēz and Standard Bank, among over 30 Hedera Council members.

Competing supply chain traceability solutions include the blockchain-based IBM Sterling Transparent Supply, TraceX, Circular for batteries and plastics, and TrusTrace for fashion and textile traceability.

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Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026