🌟 Portugal just won “Economy of the Year 2025” according to The Economist! 🇵🇹 For the first time ever, Portugal tops the magazine’s annual ranking of the 36 largest advanced economies, overtaking last year’s winner (Spain) and leaving powerhouses like the US, Germany or Japan far behind. What made the difference? ✅ Stronger-than-expected GDP growth (projected 1.9–2.3 %, well above the eurozone average) ✅ One of the lowest inflation rates in Europe ✅ A soaring stock market (PSI-20 among the best performers globally in 2025) ✅ Record tourism numbers and foreign investment ✅ Attractive tax regimes pulling in high-net-worth individuals and digital nomads In the words of The Economist: “Portugal combined solid growth with tame prices and a buoyant stock market better than any other rich country.” From the country that was bailed out little more than a decade ago to the best-performing advanced economy of 2025! 🎉

🦹‍♂️I recently fell victim to a personal vishing (voice phishing) scam. I emphasize "personal" because this had zero impact on my business, as someone managing client data, I maintain strict security protocols and never share sensitive information. Working in the crypto industry, I’m hyper cautious. I spot scam emails weekly, but this phone call caught me off guard. While the scammer only managed to get €26, her actual goal was to set up a direct debit for €500 per day. I’m sharing this so you can avoid the same trap. I was in the middle of switching energy providers when a scammer, impersonating MEO customer support, called me. She claimed my direct debit had failed and requested a quick payment via MB WAY to resolve it, followed by setting up a new direct debit. Transferring the €26 outstanding balance felt legitimate in the moment. However, the moment she asked me to send proof of the direct debit to a "Gmail address", the red flags went off🔻 ✅Here are my key takeaways from this €26 lesson: 1⃣Verify the caller. We are used to companies verifying our identity, but we rarely verify theirs. Going forward, whenever a provider calls, I will ask: What was the amount of my last bill? Which specific services do I have with you? How long have I been a customer? If they can't answer, I hang up. 2⃣Never authorize direct debits via MB WAY. Scammers use this method to bypass traditional bank safeguards and steal card details. 3⃣Reporting has its limits. Within 10 minutes, I reported the scammer’s name, phone number, email, and company details to my bank, MEO, local police, and cybercrime authorities. Aside from an automated note from cybersecurity promising a follow-up that never came, nothing happened. Prevention really is your only real line of defense. Stay sharp out there!

Could this be implemented in Portugal please? 🎧 I never understood why folks bring speakers on public transport.

⚡️Which stablecoin providers obtained their EMT license? ✅ Issuers of these tokens have obtained an official EMI or banking license from an EU national regulator, making them compliant for public offering and trading on regulated European platforms: USD-Backed: USDC (Circle Internet Financial Europe) USDG (Paxos) USDQ (Quantoz Payments) USDR (StablR) EUR-Backed: EURC (Circle Internet Financial Europe) EURCV (Société Générale - Forge) EURI (Banking Circle S.A.) EURe (Monerium) EURD / EURQ (Quantoz Payments) EURØP (Schuman Financial) EUROe (Paxos) ❌ Non-Compliant Stablecoins (Restricted or Delisted in the EU) Tokens whose issuers have not applied for or received EU authorization cannot be actively offered, listed, or traded by MiCA-licensed exchanges for EU residents. USDT (Tether): Tether opted out of seeking MiCA EMT authorization, citing conflicts between MiCA's strict bank-deposit reserve mandates and its operational model. Consequently, regulated EU exchanges have delisted or restricted USDT spot trading. DAI (Maker/MakerDAO): Decentralized algorithmic or crypto-collateralized models do not fit the central EMI/banking licensing requirement for EMTs. USDe (Ethena): Uses synthetic delta-neutral hedging rather than direct fiat-backed EMI reserves. Other Unregistered Tokens: FDUSD (First Digital), PYUSD (PayPal USD), and TUSD (TrueUSD) lack EU EMT authorization and are excluded from regulated trading.

✅DAC8 takes priority: Why Portugal’s 365-day crypto rule isn’t changing anytime soon🇵🇹 According to my contact at the AT (Autoridade Tributária), their primary focus is currently on upgrading systems for DAC8, the EU framework for automatic information exchange with MiCA-regulated crypto exchanges. Because this infrastructure project is taking priority, it is very unlikely we will see any near-term updates to local IRS crypto rules, including the 365-day holding exemption.

👏While I’m not currently affiliated with @bitget, other exchanges and financial institutions, looking at you, Revolut, could take a page out of Gracy Chen’s playbook. Within just a few hours after the hack that took place, Bitget's CEO @GracyBitget personally provided clear confirmations, outlined actionable safety measures, and reassured users that their funds are completely secure. That is how leadership handles crisis communication and thats how you keep your customers.

Os portugueses são os que menos praticam desporto na União Europeia: quase 70% dizem nunca fazer exercício, muito acima da média dos 27 Estados-membros, que ronda os 40%. Apenas 4% praticam atividade física diariamente, a percentagem mais baixa da UE. Entre os mais ativos estão os jovens dos 15 aos 24 anos. A principal razão apontada é a falta de motivação, seguida pela falta de tempo e por problemas de saúde. #Portugal #Desporto #Exercício #UE #UniãoEuropeia #AtividadeFísica #Saúde #BemEstar

⚡️Navigating Residency Bureaucracy in Portugal: A Real-Life Lesson in Persistence🇵🇹 If you've spent any time helping clients (or yourself) relocate to Portugal, you've probably heard stories of people getting stuck in the residency process. Here's one from a recent client, let's call him Mr. Degen, that perfectly captures the unpredictable side of local administration. Mr. Degen, an EU citizen from Italy, moved to the peaceful outskirts of Portugal for some much-needed quiet and privacy. His straightforward to-do list looked like this: 1) Get a NIF (tax number) 2) Obtain the CRUE (Certificate of Registration for EU Citizens) 3) Share the CRUE with Finanças—and done! Spoiler: It wasn't that simple... He breezed through the NIF application, but when he went to the local Câmara Municipal for the CRUE, he was turned away. Reason? He'd only been in Portugal for 3 months. The employee insisted he had to wait until he'd lived here for 6 months. I jumped on the phone with the official: Me: "My client intends to stay at least 6 months (actually planning much longer). He has a valid rental contract proving his commitment." Official (checking their manual): "Our guidelines say he can only register after 6 months. Come back in 3 months." (For context: EU citizens must register for CRUE after 3 months if staying longer, and can often do so earlier if declaring intent.) After explaining the rules, the call ended abruptly. I advised Mr. Degen to try again another day, perhaps with a different staff member. The punchline? He returned the following week... to the same person. This time, no questions asked. CRUE issued on the spot. Moral of the story: Bureaucracy can be inconsistent, especially at the local level and especially in the outskirts. When something doesn't work the first time, whether it's a denied application, a misinterpreted rule, or just bad timing, don't give up! Try again, another day, another desk. Persistence (and a bit of polite flexibility) often wins. Relocating within the EU should be straightforward in theory, but real life has its quirks.

This Friday marks the last Crypto Friday at @TheBlockLisboa before it closes its doors forever... It is the end of an era for Portugal’s crypto community. The Block was the first physical space for crypto enthusiasts in Lisbon. While I do not know the exact year it opened, I discovered it back in 2017 when I first started exploring the crypto world. I still vividly remember the first meetup I attended there. It was about @steemit, a decentralized social media platform, where a speaker explained how they were making around $4,000 a month just by posting food photos. At the time, it felt like pure magic. Soon after, more and more projects began setting up their offices at The Block. The Block holds a special place in my journey: it is where I gave my first public talk, met my most important clients, and had an office space to host in-person meetings. Its true unique selling point was that it was nothing fancy. No one acted superior to anyone else. It was the perfect blend of complete beginners and seasoned OGs, all sharing a cozy "living room" vibe where friends gathered every Friday to discuss shared interests that went far beyond crypto. I fondly recall one Crypto Friday when the organizers took the microphone and announced, "A Ferrari is parked poorly and blocking the road. Could the owner please move it?" Everyone was eager to see who owned it, but no one stepped forward, yet the Ferrari was quietly moved within ten minutes. It was the perfect example of the community's culture: everyone just wanted to fit in, and nobody cared to show off. The Block reached its peak in 2021. Nearly every Friday featured a sponsored event from a major crypto project, and the space was packed to capacity. Unfortunately, it never fully recovered from the subsequent bear market or returned to those golden years. 🙏I want to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who worked at The Block and everyone who was part of its journey. I truly hope we can find another space that captures this same spirit. I hope to see you all for one final Crypto Friday👋

On Sunday, I saw huge lines at the local gas station because of reports that France was running out of fuel. Today, the gas station dropped the price by 10 cents compared to the weekend. What a wild world we live in.

Good morning!!!

⚡️What if the Portuguese authorities (AT) have additional questions related your declared loss? If you had lost funds through a scam, the best is to report it to the police. I would really be curious how that would look like, but I imagine something like this: “Hey officer, I would like to report a crime. I allocated $Fartcoin / $IRON pair to a Summerfi automated liquidity pool and the $IRON stablecoin depegged, which created bad debt in the pool, which basically means I never see my funds again.” Officer: “So who stole from you?

It’s not that houses are incredibly expensive. It’s that our income is worth less every single day. Few people understand this.

BREAKING: 🇺🇸 Apple with 2 billion+ users is hiring a Crypto stablecoin lead for Apple Pay. This is absolutely massive.

🚨Important update for crypto users and investors in Portugal: Selling or swapping to stablecoins could trigger taxation as early as 2027 (especially as MiCA fully reshapes the landscape). Portugal has long been attractive for crypto, but with MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) implementation advancing and broader EU transparency rules (like DAC8 reporting starting in 2026, with exchanges in 2027), the treatment of stablecoins, particularly Electronic Money Tokens (EMTs), is coming into sharper focus. ✅Not all stablecoins are considered EMTs Here's what you need to know about Electronic Money tokens(EMTs) under MiCA: Definition & Purpose: EMTs are digital representations of a single fiat currency (e.g., € or $), using DLT to store value and enable fast, low-cost payments. They're essentially regulated digital cash. Stability Mechanism: Pegged 1:1 to one official legal tender currency, minimizing volatility unlike volatile assets (Bitcoin) or multi-asset referenced tokens. Key Safeguards (via MiCA): - Issued only by authorized credit institutions (banks) or electronic money institutions (EMIs). - Holders enjoy direct redemption rights at par value (full face value) anytime. - Issuers must maintain 100% reserves, with strict liquidity rules (e.g., at least 30% in segregated accounts). - Mandatory authorized white papers and strong consumer protections for transparency and financial stability. EMTs stand apart from other crypto: They're built for reliability as a medium of exchange in the EEA, not speculation. Why this matters in Portugal now?? As MiCA aligns national rules (with full effects rolling out), and enhanced reporting/transparency kicks in, transactions involving EMTs/stablecoins may increasingly be treated as taxable events, especially redemptions or fiat off-ramps. Long-term holdings (>365 days) often remain exempt from capital gains tax under current rules, but short-term or frequent use could change the calculus. ⚠️Stay informed, review your holdings, and consider professional advice as the regulatory environment evolves.