- The Spanish Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Has started a crypto trade.
- Customers can act and manage Bitcoin and Ethereum via the bank’s own app.
The Spanish Bank BBVA has from the Spanish securities supervisory authority Green light Get to their customers’ trade with Bitcoin and Ether. This will help the bank consolidate its presence on the market for digital assets and to promote the trend of increasing use of cryptocurrencies in Europe.
The service will be introduced in the coming months and will enable customers to invest and transfer them with them via the bank’s app in Bitcoin and Ether. The app is initially introduced as a pilot project for a selected group of customers and then extended to all Spanish private banking customers.
The BBVA works in Switzerland and Turkey and offers crypto trade and custody. The expansion to Spain is an important step in the course of the complete implementation of the regulation on markets for crypto-assets (mica) throughout the European Union.
BBVA will use cryptographically sealed customer stocks, which distinguishes them from other actors who outsource their storage. As a result, safety concerns are cleared up and the functionality of the software for the end user improves.
Although the platform is designed in such a way that it is easily accessible, it is noteworthy that BBVA will not offer any advice for investments in digital assets. Customers have full responsibility for their business and their personal financial decisions regarding cryptocurrencies.
The head of retail banking for Spain, Gonzalo Rodríguez, said that BBVA is interested in making investments in cryptocurrencies as easy as the use of its current mobile banking applications. He said that the customer is provided with a safe and solid financial organization of a bank.
Spain joins the BBVA crypto expansion
The current BBVA initiative in crypto finances took several years in order to receive the necessary approval. First, the bank entered Switzerland because it finds a favorable regulatory environment there, which is made possible by the financial market supervision (FINMA). In January, she expanded her offer in Turkey with a local branch in the Türkiye.
This new step took place in the course of the increasing introduction of cryptocurrency services by European banking organizations. Deutsche Bank is working on an Ethereum Rollup called ZKSync and offers crypto custody as part of a partnership with the Taurus Group. The Bank Société Générale, based in Paris, has announced the introduction of a euro stable on the XRP Ledger called SG-Forge.
With this new function, BBVA customers can carry out crypto operations and banking transactions directly through mobile use in Spain. Rodríguez confirmed BBVA’s interest in supporting its customers in navigation in the new world of digital assets. By using its banking experience, BBVA wants to offer investors a simple and safe way to invest in crypto systems.
A survey by the European Central Bank showed that 9 % of Spaniards have digital assets, more than twice as much as in 2022. However, Spain has risen to the level of France and Croatia, where 10 % of the population have cryptocurrencies, while Slovenia and Greece are 15 % or 14 % at the top.
