Unicaja has reached an investment agreement with Bit2Me, a leading company in digital asset services for individuals and businesses, through which it acquires more than 5% of the capital and becomes the reference financial entity for the Alicante-based fintech company in the national territory. The operation has been carried out through Unicaja Ventures, a new project by the Unicaja Group aimed at making investments in the fintech-startup world.
The investment entitles Unicaja to join the Bit2Me board of directors and sign a commercial agreement between the two companies to explore synergies in developing new innovative financial products. This alliance will allow Unicaja to respond to innovations that may arise from the upcoming implementation of the European MiCA (Market in Crypto Assets) regulations, which legislate the issuance, custody, and trading of cryptocurrencies; the Pilot Regime, which defines the applicable rules for creating new financial markets for digitalized (tokenized) assets using distributed technologies, the so-called DLT or blockchain; and the future digital euro.
For its part, Bit2Me, the first Spanish firm to obtain registration as a cryptocurrency service provider from the Bank of Spain and a Spanish-speaking leader in the crypto sector, will be able to offer its more than one million customers the banking services provided by Unicaja.
The objective of Unicaja with this investment is to position the bank, alongside a national technology partner, in the development of solutions with DLT technologies. Likewise, Bit2Me aims to strengthen and expand its leadership with the imminent arrival of MiCA.
According to Isidro Rubiales, CEO of Unicaja, this operation reflects “our institution’s commitment to technological innovation, as well as the opportunity to generate synergies with fintech-specialized startups, such as Bit2Me, to anticipate the future and incorporate solutions that enhance our services and facilitate our adaptation to the changes demanded by customers.”
For his part, Severino J. Méndez, General Director of Transformation at Unicaja, believes that “this alliance allows the institution to count on a reference technological partner, such as Bit2Me, to face the regulatory changes occurring in the sector with greater guarantees.”
According to Leif Ferreira, CEO and co-founder of Bit2Me, “with this investment, we seek to strengthen our position as industry leaders, leveraging Unicaja’s support and experience to drive our growth and development.”
For Andrei Manuel, COO and co-founder of Bit2Me, “the goal of Bit2Me is to offer innovative and secure solutions that not only comply with new regulations, such as MiCA, but also anticipate the implications of the future digital euro and the tokenization of financial assets under the European Pilot Regime framework. This collaboration will allow us to expand our technological and operational capabilities, providing our users with advanced products and services, as well as increasing trust and credibility in the market.”
Andrei Manuel (left), COO and co-founder of Bit2Me, Isidro Rubiales, CEO of Unicaja, and Leif Ferreira, CEO and co-founder of Bit2Me.
Combination of talent and capabilities
Both companies expect to combine talent and capabilities to jointly lead the new wave of innovations that will emerge in the financial sector from 2025, with the implementation of MiCA, and from 2026, with the anticipated arrival of the digital euro. These regulations will require financial entities to have specific technological and personal capabilities, which Unicaja is already working on.
All this, without losing the shared values of security, transparency, professionalism, and seriousness in regulatory compliance, as well as the commitment to helping their customers thrive.
