“Four projects based on blockchain technology, presenting innovative solutions in the sectors of sovereign digital identity, sustainability, digital transformation of the legal sector and decentralized finance (DeFi), emerged winners in the first edition of Alastria's "Blockchain Awards". Dalion (Consorcio Dalion), Botanical Water (Fujitsu), Blockiure (Blockiure) and Folks Finance (Folks Finance) received awards at the awards ceremony held on June 20 at the Wizink Center in Madrid. Thanks to the support of Globant, these awards are purely honorary”.

“Alastria has created these awards with the aim of identifying, evaluating and recognizing the most important initiatives in the transformation of organizations, which are creating a positive impact on the company, the economy, society or the planet thanks to the use of technology. Winners will receive an NFT designed by Telefónica Tech as a prize at the gala, a site that has fully offset its carbon emissions using the ClimateTrade platform.”

The award ceremony also ensured that the Spanish blockchain industry works together and in cooperation to bring the innovation provided by this technology to all areas of society. Blockchain "is no longer a buzzword, but a technology that can be an engine of economic growth", as Alastria CEO Juan Jiménez Zaballos stated. At the event, Erwin Voloder, Head of Policy of the European Blockchain Association, gave a speech in which he highlighted the opportunity that the MiCA regulation offers to Europe, where "for the first time we have a regulation", he acknowledged. However, there are aspects that are not there yet, such as decentralized finance (DeFi).

The award ceremony also ensured that the Spanish blockchain industry works together and in cooperation to bring the innovation provided by this technology to all areas of society. Blockchain "is no longer a buzzword, but a technology that can be an engine of economic growth", as Alastria CEO Juan Jiménez Zaballos stated. At the event, Erwin Voloder, Head of Policy of the European Blockchain Association, gave a speech in which he highlighted the opportunity that the MiCA regulation offers to Europe, where "for the first time we have a regulation", he acknowledged. However, there are aspects that are not there yet, such as decentralized finance (DeFi).

The president of Alastria, Miguel Ángel Domínguez, was responsible for closing the gala and emphasized the work done by the entity "to build an industry that did not exist three years ago". "Blockchain is at a good moment and we are now moving from the innovation phase to the execution phase", he continued, urging public administrations to "continue to trust this technology". "The gates of Alastria are open," he declared.

Winning projects in each category

The winner was the decentralized identity service promoted by the alliance between Dalion (Consorcio Dalion), Banca March, Banco Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Generali, Inetum, Línea Directa Aseguradora, MAPFRE, Repsol, Unicaja Banco and the Polytechnic University of Madrid. In the category of the best Blockchain project for a large company, the managing director of Globant España, Manuel Muñiz, presented the award at the gala. Dalion's goal is to provide a decentralized identity service that will give users full control over their personal data. It was imposed on the mobile digital asset preservation portfolio (Metaco) and the blockchain project applied to real estate development (Metrovacesa).

In the SME category, Blockiure (Blockiure) won the award, a SaaS B2B/B2C platform with multiple digital tools (3 acronyms: secure shipment certification and traceability, document manager, remote identity validation) supported by Blockchain technologies, Face Recognition and Machine Learning. The other finalists were Union ID (Union Avatars), Byppay (Byppay Global) and Fragsy (Fragsy).

Folks Finance was the winner in the Digital Assets category, against ACX Spot Exchange (AirCarbon PTE. LTD) and Obilum Art (Obilum NFT Studio 2022). It is an unattended DeFi protocol that provides financial instruments for digital assets. Its aim is to solve the problem of the gap between DeFi (decentralized finance) and TradFi (traditional finance). Folks Finance is also committed to being carbon neutral through its partnership with ClimateTrade, making it a more sustainable and responsible choice.

Botanical Water (Fujitsu) was the best project in the Sustainability category. This initiative enables the provision of reliable, traceable and immutable data on wastewater conditions in the food industry and reduces water waste in millions of Olympic-sized swimming pools per year, becoming a tool for companies to meet ESG criteria. Fortra (Agency for Technological Modernization of Galicia, AMTEGA) and Identidad Digital Soberana Medioambiental (Ecological Services of Rural Resources) are the other two projects that have competed for distinction.

A national and international jury of experts selected for their experience, knowledge and commitment to the development and promotion of blockchain technology has been responsible for evaluating the 69 applications submitted and selecting the 13 finalists that were made public in June.

Since then, the members of the jury were: Daniela Barbosa, executive director of the Hyperledger Foundation; Erwin Voloder, Head of Policy at the European Blockchain Association; Almudena de la Mata, managing partner of Blockchain Intelligence and member of the Board of Directors of Alastria; ManuelMuñiz, managing director of Globant España; and Ricardo Palomo, dean of Universidad CEU San Pablo.