Europe

The European Commission (EC) approved on Thursday September 24, a digital finance package, including a retail payments plan, digital finance strategy and legislative proposals on cryptocurrency and digital resilience, for a booming European Union (EU) financial sector that gives customers access to state-of-the-art financial goods and services.

Amidst rapid digitization of the world, central banks are making efforts to keep pace. Nevertheless, while Asian countries such as China have been actively developing its Central BankDigital Currencies, Europe has been cautiously exploring it. But now it seems the continent will see its first CBDC as soon as this week.

The Bank of Lithuania (BoL) is working on the development of a blockchain platform to support the non-financial sector. As per the report by Europe World News, the BoL unveiled that it has successfully completed the blockchain-powered sandbox ‘LBChain’ initiative.

Portugal is setting up a technology free-zone that would support innovations such as blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, and 5G internet.

The  central bank of Sweden has entered the world's first test of the issuance of their own central bank digital currency (CBDC). This means that the country has become part of those governments (over 15 countries) trying to issue their own CBDC.

Blockchain, the main "enabling" technological revolution of recent years, is also changing the donation industry.

The digital asset arm of Fidelity Investments, a giant investment manager based in the U.S., has rolled out its first venture in Europe, starting a new facade in a massive move to integrate ryptocurrency into conventional investing. This is the first time it makes a push into this blockchain and cryptocurrency-friendly continent.

For over two years now, there has been an ongoing fight between the courts of different countries over the case involving founder of BTC-e Alexander Vinnik from Russia, suspected to have illegally stolen huge sums of Bitcoin (in billions) by Mark Karpeles, the French founder of the collapsed Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox. Now, the case looks to be reaching its end.

The use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is still difficult to control and requires scrupulous assessment for any reports to Italian authorities. For now, cryptocurrencies for transactions subject to traceability requirements can be used within the limits of cash. Let's give some light to the recent anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.