Spain's Economy Ministry proposes creation of financial customer ombudsman to handle crypto-related matters

Spain’s crypto regulation remains in the political negotiation phase amid the current Bitcoin price bull run. Now, the country’s Ministry of Economy is about to establish a new financial customer ombudsman to oversee crypto-related matters.

According to La Informacion, Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino plans to expand her department’s supervisory powers to financial institutions to cover topics such as protecting consumers in cryptocurrency services. To make this a reality, the minister will submit a preliminary proposal to a public consulting firm “as soon as possible.”

In general, Calvino also wants to mediate all conflicts between banks and their customers through a financial customer ombudsman, including all companies in the fintech sector.

However, the ministry clarified that they hope to comply with a future ruling of the European Parliament and of the Council on markets in crypto-assets and markets in crypto-assets (MiCA), which is still in the development stage, however.

According to the outlet, Calvino's proposal would make future decisions of the independent financial customer ombudsman binding, but limited to disputes up to a certain amount. La Informacion cited sources as saying that amount could be around 30,000 euros ($35,800).

European regulation may have trouble coexisting with DeFi, experts say

No further details have yet been released on who would lead this independent body to oversee crypto matters relating to consumers. If the proposal gets the green light during the public consultation period, it would become Spain’s only independent standard for resolving conflicts on all financial matters.

But the fact of complying with the developing EU MiCA ruling still stirs controversy in the crypto space.

In fact, a survey conducted by the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) revealed that European crypto experts believe that the upcoming legal framework may pose undue challenges to the industry.

Additionally, these rulings may be “incompatible” with DeFi applications and protocols.