The BBVA has just rolled out its crypto trading and custodial platform available to all users of its retail banking operations in Spain that would allow the bank users to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin and Ethereum directly using the bank mobile app.
After regulatory disclosure in Spain, the service is progressively being launched, and it is currently available to the full population of BBVA retail clients of age. Through this launch, BBVA extends its secure digital world by adding crypto access to its already existing customer base that uses the bank’s financial services.
The announcement is in line with the new regulation known as the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) that gives unambiguous quality to crypto-asset service providers in the European Union. BBVA emphasizes that its crypto offering is strictly customer-initiated via the app, with no investment advice being provided by the bank.
“We want to make it easier for our retail customers in Spain to invest in crypto-assets through a simple and easy-to-access digital solution on their cell phone,” said Gonzalo Rodríguez, Head of Retail Banking for Spain.
BBVA has over a decade of blockchain experience and first entered the crypto space in 2021 with a Bitcoin trading and custody service for private banking clients in Switzerland, later expanded to include Ethereum and USDC. Its Turkish subsidiary Garanti BBVA introduced a wider crypto-asset service in 2023 with Solana, XRP, AVAX, and more.
BBVA plans to expand its digital assets platform in Spain, adding it to its existing offerings in Switzerland and Turkey. The bank alluded to the future launching of tokenized forms of traditional investments such as funds and bonds.
This move demonstrates the commitment to innovation on the part of BBVA since Francisco Maroto, the Head of Digital Assets in this bank, has reiterated that growth is guided by a wider approach towards this bank to increase its digital assets with a strong regulatory and secure base.
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