Coinbase strengthens foothold in Spain
TLDR: Following Coinbase’s AML registration with the Bank of Spain last month, the team has welcomed its first hire in the market. Attending the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona this week, the team will be hosting a launch party to celebrate these recent developments.
As discussed in last month’s blog, Coinbase has secured an AML registration with the Bank of Spain, a significant achievement underscoring the growing global momentum for cryptocurrencies. Following on from this milestone, our team will be in attendance at the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona over the next two days. To celebrate our recent registration and the exciting news of our first hire in the Spanish market, Coinbase will be hosting a launch party at the conference this evening, Wednesday 25 October.
Our foothold in Spain comes as part of a series of developments across Europe, as we continue to implement our ‘Go Deep, Go Broad’ international expansion strategy. Last week saw the announcement of Ireland as our MiCA entity location, while earlier this week we announced Elke Karskens as the new Country Director for Benelux and the Nordics. These movements highlight our commitment to strategic expansion across the European region, as laid out in Phase II of our international strategy.
Our registration with the Bank of Spain will provide a vital step forward in our mission to make crypto accessible to everyone. This development allows users in Spain to benefit from various crypto services, including custody of assets, trading in legal tender, and asset-to-asset trading - all in compliance with the national legal framework.
Spain provides an exciting opportunity for Coinbase, as we have seen a large appetite for cryptocurrencies across its population; notably, cryptocurrencies have overtaken bank transfers to become the second most popular payment method in the country. Findings by Bitnovo revealed that more than 60% of Spanish citizens are inclined to invest in cryptocurrencies for the long term, while more than 35% utilise them for transactions. Further findings show that more than 53% of Spaniards use cryptocurrencies for savings, 42% for investments or trading, and 10% for remittances. With such prevalence of crypto adoption evident - a trend we believe is set to continue - Coinbase is firm on placing fitted emphasis on the region.
We are greatly looking forward to the conference, and learning more about Spain’s dynamic crypto ecosystem, as we continue to grow our presence in such a vital and innovative arena.
International
About Nana Murugesan
Nana Murugesan is the Vice President of International and Business Development at Coinbase where he leads the company’s international operations and global partnerships. Previously, he was the Managing Director of International Markets at Snap Inc. where he led Snapchat’s international expansion and strategic partnerships.
Earlier in his career, Nana was the Vice President and General Manager at Samsung, where he served in a number of strategy, partnerships, and operations roles to launch and grow their Galaxy smartphone and services business, notably Samsung Pay. He also held product roles at Cisco and strategy consulting roles at BCG.
Nana received his BE in Engineering from the University of Madras, MS in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
