GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN & WEB3
ISBE (Spain’s Blockchain Services Infrastructure)
What ISBE, Spain's Blockchain Services Infrastructure, is: who backs it, how its network works (Besu, QBFT and EVM) and what it is used for.
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What is ISBE (Spain's Blockchain Services Infrastructure)?
ISBE (Spain's Blockchain Services Infrastructure) is a set of public-permissioned blockchain networks, built on Hyperledger Besu, led by the Community of Madrid and implemented and operated by Alastria. Anyone can query its data, but only identified organizations write to it. It has been running since December 2025.
Who backs and operates ISBE?
The initiative is led by the Community of Madrid, Madrid's regional government, with NextGenerationEU funds under Spain's Recovery Plan (Component 13, RETECH program). It rests on an agreement signed on February 21, 2025 between the regional Ministry of Digitalization and the Asociación Consorcio Red Alastria, published in the BOCM No. 56 of March 7, 2025. Alastria leads the design, deployment and technical governance of the network. In July 2026, the Community of Madrid put the public investment at 4.7 million euros.
Its milestones: the MVP on July 10, 2025; Release 1 on October 9, 2025; and the launch ceremony on December 18, 2025, with two initial networks.
How does the network work?
ISBE has a Bare Network, with the highest level of compliance, and use case networks. The Main network, for tokenization and smart contracts, is EVM-compatible: it runs on Hyperledger Besu, uses QBFT consensus and produces a block every 2 seconds. Its Chain ID is 33073 on Mainnet and 11073 on Testnet, according to its technical documentation.
- Reading: anyone can query it through the public explorer.
- Writing: only identified participants, through the ISBE Client, with KYB verification and a did:isbe identifier.
- Contracts: they are written in Solidity and deployed through ISBE's Factory, from its wizard in the case of templates.
- Cost: there are no gas fees per transaction; fee policy ADM1010 v1.0 (December 16, 2025) sets a monthly subscription from 500 euros, and it may change.
What is it used for?
ISBE groups its applications into four families: verifiable credentials, traceability (including the Digital Product Passport), certification and tokenization. Its official catalog lists 15 cases, among them Token City, for issuing, registering and transferring bonds; iPASS, for a digital product passport; and SmartDegrees, for verifiable academic certificates.
How is it related to Alastria and EBSI?
Alastria operates ISBE, but Alastria's T (Quorum) and B (Hyperledger Besu) networks are something else, and its ID_Alastria identity lives on them; ISBE uses did:isbe. ISBE states that it is aligned with EBSI, the European infrastructure, and interoperability tools are on its 2026 roadmap.
Is deploying on ISBE enough to comply with regulation?
No. ISBE lists MiCA, DORA, LMVSI, ENS and NIS2 among the frameworks it considers, but Spain's Law 6/2023 places the obligations on the issuance: the issuer must appoint an ERIR, an authorized entity that keeps the register (Article 8.4), and ISBE does not present itself as one. The two tokenized securities cases in its catalog, Token City and Bit2Me STX, rely on an ERIR before the CNMV, Spain's securities regulator.
Facts verified as of October 16, 2026. If your company wants to build on this network, see our service for building on ISBE.
Explained simply
ISBE is a Spanish blockchain infrastructure backed by the Community of Madrid and operated by Alastria. Companies and public administrations use it to record certificates, traceability data or tokenized assets in a shared ledger. Anyone can query it, but only identified organizations write to it.
ISBE: key points
- A set of public-permissioned blockchain networks, running since December 18, 2025
- Led by the Community of Madrid (agreement of February 21, 2025, BOCM of March 7, 2025) and implemented and operated by Alastria
- EVM-compatible Main network: Hyperledger Besu, QBFT consensus and Chain ID 33073 (Mainnet) and 11073 (Testnet)
- Only organizations verified with KYB and did:isbe write to it; contracts are deployed through ISBE's Factory
- Four use families (credentials, traceability, certification and tokenization) and 15 cases in its catalog
ISBE: advantages
- Verified identity: everyone who writes goes through KYB and holds a did:isbe
- No gas fees per transaction: the fee policy sets a monthly subscription with a transaction quota; transactions beyond it are charged separately
- EVM-compatible: standard Solidity contracts, with Hardhat or Foundry
ISBE: disadvantages
- Less autonomy: every deployment goes through ISBE's Factory and, in the approved modes, ISBE keeps a role to pause the contracts (PAUSER_ROLE)
- Approval: a custom contract takes 2 to 12 weeks depending on the level
- Interoperability pending: the link to EBSI is on the 2026 roadmap