Spain’s largest telecommunications company, Telefónica, has started accepting cryptocurrency payments for the purchase of products on its technology marketplace. The move came with an investment in Spain’s largest crypto exchange.

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock is launching a new exchange-traded fund to provide European investors with exposure to the blockchain industry, while some have suggested a Metaverse-focused ETF is also on the way.

Kazakhstan is ready to legalize a mechanism for converting cryptocurrencies to cash if there’s demand for it, local news agency Informburo quoted the country’s President Kassym-Jombart Tokayev saying.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Spain’s Largest Telecom Starts Accepting Crypto Payments
• BlackRock Launches Blockchain Technology ETF
• Kazakhstan Readies Mechanism to Convert Crypto to Cash
• Crypto Market Movers – COMP; XRP, QNT

Spain’s Largest Telecom Starts Accepting Crypto Payments

Spain’s largest telecommunications company, Telefónica, has started accepting cryptocurrency payments for the purchase of products on its technology marketplace. The move came with an investment in Spain’s largest crypto exchange.

Telefónica’s Tu.com portal is now accepting cryptocurrency payments through an integration with Spain’s largest exchange Bit2Me, after investing in the firm. More details on the investment are set to be released in the coming weeks.

The Spanish telecommunications giant also has its own non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on the Polygon network that is initially integrated with MetaMask.

Telefónica recently closed deals with companies, including Qualcomm to develop projects in the metaverse.

BlackRock Launches Blockchain Technology ETF

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock is launching a new exchange-traded fund to provide European investors with exposure to the blockchain industry, while some have suggested a Metaverse-focused ETF is also on the way.

BlackRock’s new ETF is called the iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF (BLKC). 75% of the fund’s holdings consist of blockchain companies such as cryptocurrency miners and exchanges, while the other 25% are companies that support the blockchain ecosystem.

The fund includes 35 global companies out of a total of 50 holdings, while also including fiat currency and derivatives. It does not invest in cryptocurrencies directly.

The fund’s top five holdings are Coinbase shares (13.2%), cash in USD (13%), fintech firm Block (11.4%), and crypto mining firms Marathon Digital Holdings (11.13%) and Riot Blockchain (10.50%).

Kazakhstan Readies Mechanism to Convert Crypto to Cash

Kazakhstan is ready to legalize a mechanism for converting cryptocurrencies to cash if there’s demand for it, local news agency Informburo quoted the country’s President Kassym-Jombart Tokayev saying.

Tokayev spoke at the international forum Digital Bridge 2022, where he emphasized Kazakhstan's aims to become an international leader when it comes to digital technology, the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and regulated mining.

The President noted that Kazakhstan’s government has drafted amendments to national law in order to pilot a mechanism for converting crypto at the Astana International Financial Centre. Tokayev stated:

“We are ready to go further. If this financial instrument shows its further relevance and security, it will certainly receive full legal recognition.”

Tokayev reportedly visited a joint booth at the event of local lender Eurasian Bank and the Interbix crypto exchange. Both are said to jointly have completed the bank’s first regulated crypto purchase.

Crypto Market Movers – COMP; XRP, QNT

Several tokens are leading the charge in the last 7-day period. Some of these are well-known cryptocurrencies with more liquid trading pairs, so we’ll be focusing on these over low-cap cryptos that may have higher percentage changes.

Compound (COMP) - Compound (COMP) is an ERC-20 asset that empowers community governance of the decentralized money market Compound protocol; COMP token-holders and their delegates debate, propose, and vote on all changes to the protocol.

XRP (XRP) - XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger and positions itself as a “fast and green” digital asset that was built “to be the most practical cryptocurrency for applications across the financial services space.” It offers fast transaction settlements, can handle thousands of transactions per second, and relies on hundreds of validators on its network.

Quant (QNT) - Quant is a cryptocurrency project that launched in June 2018 that aims to connect blockchains and networks on a global scale without sacrificing efficiency. It aims to allow applications to operate on multiple blockchains through the creation of the first blockchain operating system.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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