Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) announced on March 10 that it had received the head sign of the Spanish securities regulator, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) negotiation services to its customers.
The two largest crypto offers from the bank in Spain will allow users to buy, sell and manage digital assets via its mobile application. The lender said that he would use his own cryptographic police custody platform to maintain total control over customer assets without third involvement.
Initially, deployment will be limited to a selected group of users before gradually developing to all private clients of the Iberian nation in the coming months.
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The BBVA crypto journey has started in Switzerland
The BBVA foray into the crypto began in Switzerland, where it launched Bitcoin custody and trading services for private banking customers in June 2021. The Swiss branch has since expanded its offers to include the ether and the stablecoinchin of the USDC (USDC).
In January 2025, the BBVA Turkish subsidiary, guaranteed BBVA Kripto, launched its crypto trading services to the public. Spain now entering the fold, BBVA is expanding its cryptography services in accordance with evolving European regulations.
Tradfi and crypto companies rush for a mica license
The expansion of the BBVA occurs while the markets in the regulation of crypto-sets (Mica) reached a complete implementation at the end of 2024. Although the framework is now in force, the EU cryptographic companies have until July 2026 to fully comply with its requirements under a transitional phase of 18 months.
The grandfather’s period, or transition phase, so that cryptographic companies became compliant with Mica lasts until July 2026. Source: ESMA
Since the deployment of Mica, traditional financing companies have accelerated their efforts to secure Mica licenses and integrate cryptography services. Prime Brokerage Hidden Road obtained its MICA license in the Netherlands on December 30, 2024. Standard Charterd followed on January 9, receiving approval in Luxembourg, while the digital guard of Boerse Stuttgart became the leading cryptocurrency supplier as German on January 17.
Crypto-native companies are also adapted to the new regulatory landscape. In January 2025, the main exchanges OKX, Crypto.com and Hashkey all obtained the approval of the Mica. Bybit, who has undergone the greatest hacking in the history of cryptography, was recently deleted from the Black List of France and expressed the intention of obtaining a Mica license afterwards.
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