Amazon takes a step closer to embracing the crypto world. If until recently they were quite passive when it came to placing their name next to cryptocurrency initiatives and companies, now that stage is being left behind with the alliance with Bit2Me, it is worth noting that it is the “First crypto company recognised by the Bank of Spain”.
The agreement is between Amazon Web Services and Bit2Me, where companies that use the latter’s utility token will be able to access the “AWS Activate” programme, which includes up to $100,000 in credits to use on AWS web servers. An alliance between the Spanish cryptocurrency benchmark and Amazon Web Services, which continues its search to expand startups with which to collaborate.
Amazon is always looking for new customers: now also for crypto startups
According to both companies, this “alliance will help startups to create new solutions and pioneering products for the cryptocurrency industry and grow technologically”. In addition to collaborating, they will also hold various “events in Spain throughout 2022 to attract and promote more startups in the crypto world”, probably in Spain and Latin America.
Amazon Web Services Spain explains that they regularly collaborate with organisations and accelerators such as Lanzadera, SeedRocket, BIND 4.0 or Wayra and investment funds such as Kibo Ventures, KFun or Adara Ventures, among many others. Now they will also do so with Bit2Me in the AWS Activate programme, the first Spanish company focused on the crypto landscape with which they have reached this agreement.
AWS has collaborated in the past with platforms such as Crypto.com, but this is the first time it will play such an active role in the crypto ecosystem. In the middle of last year we heard that Amazon itself was exploring the possible creation of a digital currency of its own, although those rumours have since fallen on deaf ears.
Our previous passive stance has transformed into a pragmatic view of the crypto ecosystem, treating these types of companies like any other. AWS is proud to have Amazon Managed Blockchain and recalls that 25% of all Ethereum workloads run on AWS.
The company chosen in Spain to drive this crypto ecosystem is Bit2Me. This is the largest Spanish company specialising in crypto, with its own token and a user base of more than 470,000 users. An exchange that tries to position itself on the “friendly side” of the crypto ecosystem, in the sense that it complies with multiple regulations and maintains close contact with official bodies such as the Bank of Spain.
Interestingly, in 2015 when they were building the company. Bit2Me opted for Google for its servers because Amazon was not sure about allying with this crypto company, according to Leif Ferreira, founder of Bit2Me. Several years later, it seems that the perspective has changed.
Founded in 2014, Bit2Me has a transaction volume of 1.1 billion euros, has reached an agreement with Prosegur Crypto to store its funds and is working on the launch of Bit2Me Card, a card with MasterCard with which to pay in euros and virtual currency.
While Coinbase is the global benchmark, this company has emerged from Spain and already has almost 200 employees in its various offices. Bit2Me explains that its main objective is to become a bridge between fiat money and the crypto world. At the beginning of February they presented Bit2Me Launchpad, a tool to allow other companies to tokenise themselves and enter the blockchain ecosystem. Now, those companies that are encouraged to collaborate with Bit2Me will also be able to participate directly in the Amazon Web Services Activate programme.
AWS is gaining new customers for its platform and trusts the Spanish company’s criteria to select interesting projects. On Bit2Me’s side, they get to place their brand next to a giant like Amazon Web Services. Something that comes from a cryptocurrency company is quite a milestone. This is an approach to the crypto world that we will foreseeably see on a daily basis, as more large companies are encouraged to integrate into the crypto ecosystem.
