Spain for the win? Top 3 fan tokens to watch during the FIFA World Cup

November 19, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

Spain, Portugal and Brazil national teams' fan tokens are experiencing a price boom as the World Cup gets underway.

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is boosting the value of national soccer team fan tokens despite the cryptocurrency bear market.

World Cup Qatar hype boosts fan token prices

These digital fan tokens are currently rallying despite the cryptocurrency market downturn, securing up to 170% gains from the Nov. 10 lows. At the core of the massive uptrend is the World Cup, which will be held from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18 in Qatar.

Fan tokens are cryptocurrencies that enable fans to engage with and participate in their favorite team's decisions. Moreover, they create new sponsorship opportunities for sports clubs and national squads outside of traditional revenue sources.

Here's a brief overview of the top gainers in the fan token sector, alongside their technical outlook during the course of the World Cup.

Spain National Football Team Fan Token (SNFT)

The Spain National Football Team Fan Token (SNFT) emerged as the top gainer in the sports token section, rising 170% to a high of $0.54 on Nov. 19, nine days after bottoming out at $0.20.

*SNFT/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

SNFT's outperformance versus other fan crypto tokens may reflect the Spanish football team's higher odds of winning the World Cup in 2022. But in traditional terms, Spain's odds of winning the trophy is +800, meaning betting $100 would yield $800, according to Vegas Insider.

From a technical perspective, SNFT trades inside a neutral zone, as confirmed by its daily relative strength index (RSI) at around 58, below its overbought threshold of 70.

In other words, SNFT shows potential to continue its rally during the World Cup and its price should reflect how the Spain National Football team performs.

For instance, back-to-back wins for Spain may stretch SNFT's valuation above its current resistance level of $0.538 for a potential run-up toward its record high near $0.718, as shown in the four-hour chart below.

*SNFT/USD four-hour price chart. Source: TradingView*

Conversely, a pullback from $0.538 could have SNFT eye a correction toward $0.412, down about 18% from today's price.

Spain will next play Costa Rica on Nov. 23 in the Group E category, followed by a standoff against Germany on Nov. 28.

Brazil National Football Team Fan Token (BFT)

The Brazil National Football Team Fan Token (BFT) appears to be the crypto market's second favorite fan token. Its price has rallied 130% in just nine days, from $0.45 on Nov. 10 to over $1 on Nov. 19.

*BFT/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Brazil is the favorite to win the World Cup this year with +350 odds in traditional betting circles, meaning a $100 bet would return $350. That could serve as a fundamental factor behind BFT's growth in the coming weeks, given the token still has room to run based on its neutral daily RSI.

As of Nov. 19, BFT eyes a breakout above $1.05, its current resistance level, toward its short-term upside target at around $1.16. An extended rally could occur if Brazil wins the World Cup on Dec. 18, paving the path toward $1.31, up 25% from today's price.

Conversely, a pullback would risk sending BFT toward $0.82, its October 2022 support level.

Brazil's first match is against Serbia on Nov. 25 in Group G, followed by a standoff against Switzerland on Nov. 28.

Portugal National Team Fan Token (POR)

The Portugal National Team Fan Token (POR) is the third-best performer in the ongoing fan token boom, rising about 100% to $6 on Nov. 19, nine days after hitting lows of $3.10.

*POR/USDT daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Traditional bookies measure Portugal's odds of winning the World Cup at +1600, meaning betting $100 would yield about $1,600.

POR now tests $6 as its resistance, with its daily RSI near 64, just six points below its overbought threshold. A decisive pullback from the said price ceiling could have POR eye a correction toward $4.80, its support level from September-October 2022.

Conversely, continued success in the World Cup for Portugal may flip the scenario to bullish, leading POR above its $6-resistance to eye a rally toward or above $7.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Bitstamp gets a crypto license from the Bank of Spain

November 18, 2022 Coin Telegraph

bitstamp

The EU-based exchange became the 46th crypto business to obtain a permit to offer virtual currency exchange services for fiat currency in the country.

Crypto exchange Bitstamp reported obtaining a license for operations with crypto in Spain. It marks approval in yet another European jurisdiction for an exchange, which has been focusing on the EU market since its launch in 2011.

The company revealed the news about its Spanish license on Nov. 17. The approval from the Bank of Spain lets Bitstamp’s local subsidiary offer virtual currency exchange services for fiat currency and electronic wallet custody services to Spanish users. Bitstamp became the 46th virtual asset provider to receive a license in Spain, following the likes of Binance and Bitpanda.

Spain has recently demonstrated a moderate approach to crypto regulation, which goes hand in hand with a high pace of adoption in the country. In January, the local financial regulator Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) announced a set of rules for crypto-asset investments advertising, demanding them to be “clear, balanced and fair.”

By this fall, the country became home to the third-largest network of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ATMs after the United States and Canada. It currently hosts 215 crypto ATMs, pushing El Salvador — with 212 — down to the fourth position after surpassing the country by the ATMs.

In September, the multinational telecom company based in Madrid, Telefonica, enabled payments with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and many others on its online tech marketplace called Tu. The firm integrated a crypto payment feature provided by the Spanish crypto exchange Bit2Me to receive crypto in exchange for their tech products.

Bitstamp has been increasing compliance efforts in recent years. In April, it requested users to update the origin of cryptocurrencies stored on the platform for regulation purposes. The exchange provided an official list of examples of documents clarifying fiat-related sources of wealth of deposited funds, including salary and pension payslips, inheritance documents, payslips for savings, gifts, mining receipts and others.

Santander UK Limits Cryptocurrency Exchange Transactions, Bank Says Investing in Crypto ‘Can Be High Risk’

November 3, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Spain overtakes El Salvador to become third largest crypto ATM hub

October 22, 2022 Coin Telegraph

ATM

Spain currently hosts 215 crypto ATMs, pushing El Salvador — home to 212 crypto ATMs — down to the fourth position after surpassing the country by 3 crypto ATMs.

The European country of Spain is officially home to the third-largest network of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency ATMs after the United States and Canada.

Spain currently hosts 215 crypto ATMs, pushing El Salvador — wi 212 crypto ATMs — down to the fourth position after surpassing the country by 3 crypto ATMs. Data from CoinATMRadar confirms that Spain represents 0.6% of the global crypto ATM installations.

*Crypto ATM distribution by continents and countries. Source: CoinATMRadar*

Moreover, the revelation places Spain as the highest contributor to crypto ATMs in Europe, which represents 14.65% of total installations in the continent, followed by Switzerland (144 ATMs), Poland (142 ATMs) and Romania (135 ATMs).

*Crypto ATM installation growth in Spain. Source: CoinATMRadar*

In 2022 alone, Spain installed 43 crypto ATMs and has previously shared its intent to install a total of over 100 ATMs by the end of the year — taking up the total to nearly 300 crypto ATMs once completed.

MediaMarkt, a German electronics retailer, and Confinity, among others, are leading the drive to install crypto ATMs across Austria, Germany, Spain and Greece.

On the contrary, global crypto ATM installations saw a negative growth since September 2022 and are on the path of slow recovery at the time of writing. Calculations based on data from the last 60 days show that around seven crypto ATMs are being installed daily worldwide.

Greece takes the sixth spot in terms of cryptocurrency ATMs, and with the influx of tourists, Bitcoin ATM operator BCash shared insights on the usage statistics in the country.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, BCash managing director and co-founder, Dimitrios Tsangalidis, revealed that despite installing crypto ATMs in tourist hotspots, most usage comes from the main city area.

However, the island of Crete attracts a "very loyal cryptocurrency crowd,” as explained by Tsangalidis:

“There is a strong crypto community in Heraklion of Crete [which is] the location of one of our ATMs."

According to Tsangalidis, a combination of crypto winter and tourist seasons has resulted in a slowdown in terms of regular traffic in crypto ATM usage.

Spain