University Smart Portfolio is presented at MERGE Madrid 2025

SmartDegrees presented its University Smart Portfolio (USP) use case at MERGE Madrid 2025 on October 8, along with seven other use cases from startups in the new Spanish Blockchain Services Infrastructure (ISBE). These cases were also awarded funding by the Community of Madrid to incentivize the use of blockchain technology.

MERGE Madrid is “the most important crypto event in Spain” and “is positioning itself as the next European hub.” The three-day event hosted regulators, banks, institutional investors, entrepreneurs, government officials, and leaders of the crypto ecosystem, where tokenization, associated financial products, cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins were discussed.

The Community of Madrid has had its own space, which has accommodated the activities promoted by its Ministry of Digitalization, with aid aimed at SMEs and startups to encourage the use of blockchain technology, within the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan for digitalization in key economic sectors, funded by the European Union (NextGenerationEU). These activities include the development, deployment, and implementation of Spanish Blockchain Services Infrastructure, which will be operational on December 31, 2025, and the use cases based on it.

Vicente Prior, CEO of SmartDegrees, described how University Smart Portfolio issues verifiable credentials, certifying university students’ academic achievements, in a digital portfolio. This facilitates interoperability with other institutions thanks to its alignment with the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) standard and the eIDAS2 regulation. The goal is to enhance university students’ value in the job market and his mobility by sharing their credentials quickly and securely, without intermediaries, and also to help the university in its digital transformation.

To validate the model and user experience, USP has the support and participation of the University of Design, Innovation and Technology (UDIT), the European Campus Card Association (ECCA), the Sicomoro Foundation, and the Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C).

Driven by the Community of Madrid

As described by the General Director of Digital Strategy of the Community of Madrid, Nacho Azorín, Web3 is like a scalpel that allows unnecessary grease to be removed from processes. According to Miguel Ángel Domínguez, president of Alastria, a key institution in the creation of ISBE, this infrastructure will allow organizations to develop digital services with security, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Furthermore, it will be a blockchain benchmark because, unlike its European equivalent, the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), ISBE unites the public and private sectors in a single network.