Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally

Chapter 22Portugal

Portuguese banking and finance regulators seek a coordinated regulatory solution for cryptocurrencies. The finance minister of Portugal, Mario Centano, who is also the president of the Eurogroup, said that he is looking to European regulatory guidance concerning cryptocurrencies since they are “overseeing the general picture.” The Eurogroup is a group of 19 finance ministers of EU countries, who meet once a month to talk about major economic and monetary policies that are implemented across the EU.¹ Banks have been increasingly adopting blockchain technology after caving to customer pressure starting in the fourth quarter of 2017 to reduce costs and make cross‐border payment transactions more efficient.

Blockchain Adoption: “We are committed to creating a leading international blockchain payment ecosystem that presents significant opportunity for cross‐border payments globally,” explained José Luis Calderón, the global head of Santander Global Transaction Banking. Banco Santander‐UK began working with American Express and the Ripple network to allow American Express's US business customers to make instant, traceable, cross‐border noncard payments using the blockchain network RippleNet to Banco Santander‐UK.

“We're taking a huge step forward with American Express and Santander to solve the problems customers experience with slow cross‐border global payments,” Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, revealed.²

Crypto Adoption: At the end of 2021, 2.37% of the population ...