10-3-2025 – BBVA, the Spanish banking powerhouse, has secured regulatory endorsement to facilitate bitcoin and ether trading for its clientele. The timing dovetails with the full implementation of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, heralding a new chapter in regulated digital asset services.
The development marks a significant stride in BBVA’s digital transformation journey, which initially saw the institution contemplating a Swiss launch owing to FINMA’s established regulatory environment. The bank’s earlier foray into cryptocurrency services through its Turkish subsidiary had already demonstrated its commitment to embracing financial innovation.
A broader transformation is sweeping across Europe’s banking landscape, with heavyweight institutions such as Deutsche Bank and Société Générale making strategic moves in the digital asset sphere. Deutsche Bank’s collaboration with ZKsync on an Ethereum rollup development, coupled with its Taurus partnership for custody solutions, exemplifies this trend. Meanwhile, Société Générale’s SG-FORGE arm is advancing plans to introduce a euro-pegged stablecoin on the XRP Ledger.
The regulatory green light for BBVA arrives against the backdrop of significant developments across the Atlantic, where the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has embraced cryptocurrency activities within the American federal banking framework, signalling a remarkable policy evolution.
BBVA’s 2020 exploratory efforts in the cryptocurrency sector had been temporarily suspended pending MiCA’s implementation. However, with the comprehensive EU regulatory framework now operational, the institution stands poised to extend its digital asset services directly to Spanish and European customers, potentially catalysing wider adoption of cryptocurrency services in traditional banking.
This regulatory milestone positions BBVA at the vanguard of regulated digital asset services, potentially bolstering investor confidence and laying the groundwork for continued innovation in European digital finance under the MiCA framework.
