The list of competing startups that made it to the finals of BBVA Open Talent Competition is out. The final round of this year’s edition of competition will see nine cryptocurrency based startups fighting it out to emerge the winners.
Organized by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) a Spanish banking group, the seventh edition of Open Talent Competition is currently underway. The final round of competition is split into three different regional finals. These regional finals will be held in Barcelona, Mexico and New York. Barcelona will be the host of the European leg, while the Latin American leg will be held in Mexico. The New York final will include competitors from the United States along with the rest of the world.
The cryptocurrency based companies that have qualified for regional finals include Safello, Vaultoro, Everledger competing in the European region, and Bitnexo, Bitso from the South American region. Other four startups that will be competing in the New York event are Bitwage, Coinalytics, Voatz and SnapCard.
By the end of regional finals, there will be 6 winners, 2 from each region and these winners will be receiving a cash prize of 30,000 EUR and they are extended an opportunity to take part in a networking program for a duration of 2 weeks.
BBVA Open Talent Competition focuses on innovations particularly in the financial technology sector. It boasts of a track record of forging partnerships with innovative entrepreneurs and startups for 7 consecutive years until now. All the participating teams had one or the other form of innovative technology or service with the potential of disrupting the existing e-commerce, mobile payments, security and data management sectors.
The presence of 9 cryptocurrency and crypto-technology based companies among the list of 50 finalists doesn’t come as a surprise. Blockchain technology, the tech behind bitcoin and many other altcoins is currently being incorporated into mainstream banking and financial operations. The use of blockchain technology in banking sector can save millions of dollars in terms of infrastructure and compliance costs for the banks. Many banks are already conducting research on finding ways includeing blockchain application into day to day operations.