Spanish Exchange Bit2Me Launches API for Crypto-Keen Banks

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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June 25, 2023

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The Spanish crypto exchange player Bit2Me says that it has launched an API for banks and companies looking to get into the crypto space.

An API is an Application Programming Interface, in essence, a software-based intermediary platform that lets two applications communicate with one other. For instance, a crypto exchange’s API could allow the trading platform’s app to “talk” to a banking app – or vice versa.

In a press release shared by Bit2Me on Twitter, the exchange explained that the API would effectively allow banks “to offer the purchase and sale of [cryptoassets] to clients without the need to create an exchange” of their own.

The service, the company said, has been “specially designed for regulated entities” – and traditional banks in particular. But the firm added that its new service “can also be used by other businesses,” including regulated neobanks, fintech companies, or government-run public institutions who “wish to start engaging in the “exchange, sale, and custody of crypto.”

The firm pointed out that it is also regulated by the Central Bank of Spain and stated that, using the API, a commercial bank could start providing crypto services to its clients “overnight.”

In addition to trading functions, the API allows tradfi players to offer earning and staking services – or store customer coins in cold custodial wallets.

Will There Be Any Tradfi Takers for the API?

Only time will tell if any of Spain’s bigger banking players will engage with Bit2Me’s new service. Most have thus far expressed relative caution in all things crypto-related.

But Bit2Me, which also operates its own eponymous token, has received substantial backing from the nation’s biggest telecoms player.

Last month, La Información reported that Telefónica had made an estimated $30 million investment in the crypto exchange – a deal that makes the telecom giant one of the biggest shareholders in Bit2Me.

The crypto firm is also looking to make a mark in Latin America, where it has been expanding its operations.