Spanish banking behemoth BBVA has obtained regulatory approval to offer crypto to retail investors in the world's 14th biggest economy.
Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two leading cryptocurrencies, will be available via the banking giant's mobile app.
This is far from being the first foray into crypto for the second-largest Spanish bank after Banco Santander.
Back in 2017, BBVA announced that it had completed the very first implementation of an international money transfer between Spain and Mexico with the help of Ripple's technology.
Ripple's Marcus Treacher noted that BBVA was actually one of the very first banks to join the Ripple network.
It also started experimenting with Ethereum, putting a syndicated loan on the second most popular blockchain back in 2018.
Alex DovbnyaIn 2021, BBVA introduced a Bitcoin trading service for Swiss banking clients.
In 2023, the Swizerland-based subsidiary of the Spanish banking behemoth moved its custody service to Harmonize, the platform developed by Metaco (the firm that was acquired by Ripple for $250 million earlier that year).
Garanti BBVA, the Turkish branch of the bank, collaborated with Ripple to offer digital asset custody services last October. Prior to this, the XRP cryptocurrency became available on the bank's crypto app alongside several other tokens.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov