The government of Spain has approved the resources for a new issuance of gold bullion coins, which will be directed to satisfy a higher estimated demand for these instruments. The Spanish National Coin Factory will purchase 40 million euros in high-quality gold pieces for this batch, a significantly higher amount of gold compared to the two series issued before.

Spanish National Coin Factory Prepares Gold Bullion Coin Issuance

Spain is preparing the issuance of a new gold bullion coin to satisfy the demand of the market for such instruments. In February, the government of Spain approved a budget of 40 million euros (almost $43 million) for the issuance of a new batch of gold coins. Most of the budget will be used by the National Coin Factory to purchase high-purity and quality gold to mint these coins.

According to reports, the amount approved for this task is unusually high, something that hints at the demand the institution estimates the products will have when issued. Analysts speculate that this kind of product, traditionally marketed to national and international collectors, might have awakened the interest of more traditional investors due to the measured risks and low volatility associated with gold and the coins themselves.

Gold Demand Sees Boost in Spain

This is the third issuance of gold bullion coins that the National Coin Factory in Spain is preparing to execute, profiling itself as the largest one according to the quantity of gold that will be purchased. The other two batches were issued in the years 2021 and 2022, with a number of 12,000 and 15,000 units coined, respectively.

Comparatively, the budget approved for these two first issuances did not reach the 10-million-euros (almost $10.7 million dollars) mark. The coins, that are sold by the National Coin Factory directly, have a consistent price. The price depends on the price of the gold at the time of the purchase, and the coinage fee taken by the National Coin Factory, which is 10%.

The rise in the demand for gold-based investment instruments is not just a local phenomenon. According to the World Gold Council, a markets insights organization, the demand for the precious metal hit an 11-year high in 2022. While most of this volume was attributed to the rise in purchases by central banks, the institution also reported that investment demand for gold increased by 10%, reaching 1,107 tons.

What do you think about the recently approved budget to mint gold bullion coins in Spain? Tell us in the comment section below.

Sergio Goschenko

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source link

A recent study indicates that Spain is one of the hottest countries regarding real estate offerings that can be paid with cryptocurrency. The report, prepared by Forex Suggest, found that Spain is the country with the most properties available for crypto, followed by Thailand, Portugal, and the UAE.

Spain Ranks First Among Countries With Properties on Sale for Crypto

A recent study made by Forex Suggest, which examined which countries had the most properties on sale for cryptocurrency, found that Spain was the hottest destination for real estate crypto investors. The study, which aggregated properties available in specialized crypto real estate portals, found that 289 properties were available to purchase with crypto in Spain alone.

The report explains that the properties offered are mostly located in the cities of Alicante and Marbella, and more urban properties are in the city of Barcelona.

This number puts the country at the forefront of all other nations by a significant number. Second to Spain is Thailand, with 227 properties available, and a popular cryptocurrency haven, Portugal, ranks third with 130 properties available.

Also, the report found that the country with the most expensive prices of properties available to buy with crypto was Canada, averaging almost 250 bitcoin per property, while properties in the Philippines have an average price of a little more than 15 bitcoin, being the cheapest around the world. El Salvador, a country that has adopted bitcoin as legal tender, falls in the middle, with average prices of close to 40 bitcoin per property.

Real Estate and Crypto

The document assesses the benefits and problems that transferring a property for crypto might bring to both owners and buyers. Among the most important benefits is avoiding the associated costs of transferring and paying with fiat currency, especially if the properties involved are located overseas.

Among the problems described by the report are the low availability of mortgage lenders willing to accept cryptocurrency as a deposit, and the current stringent regulatory framework in countries like the U.K., which might bring additional paperwork to the process.

The acceptance of crypto for real estate payments has been steadily growing, with several platforms opening the doors to list prices in crypto since last year. In Aug. 2021, one of the first reported real estate sales paid in crypto happened in Venezuela, when an apartment was sold using Tether’s USDT. In the same way, sales in Chile and Colombia were reported to be settled using bitcoin last year.

What do you think about the usage of crypto to purchase real estate properties? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio Goschenko

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source link

Only 4% of the companies in Spain have managed to apply the metaverse to their operations, according to a survey conducted by ISDI, a national business school. 40% of the business managers surveyed have admitted that it is difficult for them to bring parts of their business to the metaverse in a significant way.

Metaverse Growing Slowly in Spain

While surveys and estimations by banks and companies have predicted the metaverse will become a big business in this decade, some companies are experiencing problems in bringing their vision to the virtual world. A report presented by ISDI, a Spain-based business school, has shown that moving business models to the metaverse has proven difficult for national companies.

The survey, which centered its focus on business managers, found that less than 4% of the Spanish companies have jumped into the metaverse, even with the buzz that surrounded the ecosystem last year. Furthermore, 40% of the business managers surveyed don’t know how they could harness it for their specific business models.

Also, almost one in four companies recognize that they have trouble understanding the concept, with 14% directly stating they both don’t understand it and have no idea of how to apply it to their operations.

An Evolving Situation

However, even with all the problems regarding it, almost one in every four companies affirm to be in investigative phases that include a metaverse-based initiative. 28% of the companies surveyed recognize the importance of recruiting special talent for these initiatives.

For ISDI’s CEO Rodrigo Miranda, this is a natural part of the evolution that Spanish companies must experience to be able to present their products and services in the metaverse. He stated:

The success and the incursion of Spain, its companies, and professionals in this new universe will depend on the speed with which they can accept, adapt and respond to the radical changes that are coming.

At least at a governmental level, Spain has manifested its commitment to the growth of the sector, supporting companies wanting to take the leap into the metaverse. In December, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain announced it would invest 8 million euros ($8.5 million) in grants for companies developing metaverse-based immersive experiences in the field of video games.

What do you think about the development of the metaverse in the business sector in Spain? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio Goschenko

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Source link