IN SUMMARY
- It is the perfect time to launch this campaign as Europe is at a key moment in the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
- BeInCrypto looks at how they came up with the Bitcoin campaign and also how they technically "donated".
- Covadonga Fernández, director of the Blockchain Observatory, and Miguel Caballero, co-founder of Tutellus, were the creators of said Bitcoin campaign.
The 350 deputies of the Spanish congress have woken up as Bitcoin bearers thanks to a bold awareness campaign on cryptocurrencies . Now it remains to be seen if the congress of deputies accepts Bitcoin and if with it they learn about the benefits offered by the cryptocurrency created by Satoshi Nakamoto .
The educational campaign has two architects: Covadonga Fernández, director of the Blockchain Observatory , and Miguel Caballero, co-founder of Tutellus. Both are active players in the sector and advocate spreading blockchain technology and the possible advantages with cryptocurrencies . Previously, BeInCrypto covered an event both attended in which it was a question of deciphering Is DeFi an alternative for savers or is the sector still immature? , as an exercise in debate.
thinking about BTCOn this occasion, BeInCrypto has contacted the minds behind this maneuver to clarify what is the intention of such a campaign as well as how it has been executed. To begin, Caballero wanted to emphasize that it is not a donation , stating:
It is important to emphasize that this is not a donation. It is an educational action to raise awareness of the important role that cryptocurrencies are playing in the transformation of the economy and society.
The intention is not for the deputy to simply keep his Bitcoin, but to learn about its meaning as well as the benefits of its use.
How did the idea come about and why now?
The inspiration for such a campaign comes from the other side of the Atlantic as pointed out by the director of the Blockchain Observatory:
The idea arises when seeing the initiative of the Digital Chamber of Commerce with the congressmen of the United States.
It is true that in matters related to crypto or blockchain China is being the undisputed leader for being the first in the race to launch its CBDC and for leading this promising sector. The United States appears to have lost some of its original bellows from its technology leadership , but it still has plenty of room to maintain that status.
United States blockchain
Therefore, it is not surprising that Fernández as Caballero have been inspired by some tactics used by US politicians and congressmen to put cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology under the spotlight. Among some mention could accept donations in criptomonedas for their political campaigns, actively asking for a regulation clearer to the IRS or claim the use of blockchain to implement measures of the Covid-19 for its effectiveness.
Europe kicks off the race to be the leader in the tech industry
Between the two titans, Europe seems to be a mere spectator , however lately it seems to have thrown itself towards the possible creation of the digital euro as showing its plans to create a European regulatory framework for the sector . Because of these movements, Fernández felt the time was right to create a campaign like this, stating:
From my point of view, we are at the right time to do it. At a time when it seems like digital transformation is being taken seriously. In fact, the President of the Government of Spain has announced that he will allocate 140,000 million euros to digitization in the next five years.
Fernández refers to the digitization plan of Spain by President Sanchez that he presented at the beginning of July 2020. This disbursement is given thanks to funds from the European Union, the 140,000 million euros will be deployed in various industries in the next 5 years , according to the president communicated.
Blockchain in Spain
Among all the tech industries, blockchain could benefit from such a push from public administrations. Fernández declared that he thinks that this industry should find a place in that large investment:
We think that in this digitization process, blockchain and cryptocurrencies must be present. In the seven months that we have been in a pandemic, according to several specialists, the digital transformation has accelerated as if it had been ten years. And it is in the midst of this transformation where the journey of the transformation of money and its use converges, as a consequence of the birth of Bitcoin.
How can Spanish deputies claim or use this Bitcoin?
The CEO of Tutellus guided BeInCrypto on how the idea could be put into practice, such as how can a deputy dispose of his Bitcoin? Knight explained:
We have used Bluewallet and in its Lightning Network version , so that transactions (these or future) were fast and the fees between wallets were minimal. I opened a wallet for each political group and then moved the funds to each of the 10 wallets (= 10 groups). I contacted each one separately, sending them the QR equivalent to the seed in a BTC wallet, as well as the instructions to install the wallet.
Fernández clarified the reason why they were forced to allocate the Bitcoin to political groups instead of to the deputies directly, privacy.
The money is in the wallets and all the instructions are in the mail sent to each of the political groups. Our intention was to send the euro in bitcoin to each of the deputies, but since many deputies do not publish their mail, we opted for the route of sending it to each of the groups, so that from there they would distribute it to each of the deputies of the group.
Therefore, if a specific deputy wanted his corresponding Bitcoin, he would simply have to “ask his group for it”.
bitcoin analysis
Spanish politics will have to learn about blockchain and crypto so as not to be left behind
In Spanish politics there are few politicians who advocate crypto and blockhain. However, both creators of this campaign mentioned Teo García Egea (PP) as the most knowledgeable personality in Spanish politics in the sector and who publicly pushes for blockchain to be a tangible reality, it will be seen what effect this campaign will have on the complicated Spanish politics.