Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg

As cryptocurrencies become increasingly mainstream in financial services, banks are thinking about taking advantage of this trend and offering in-house crypto custody services to their customers.

BBVA recently introduced crypto services to its retail customers in Spain so individuals could directly buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and ether through the bank’s mobile app.

“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 Rodriguez, BBVA’s head of retail banking for Spain. “Our goal is to support them as they explore digital assets, backed by the strength and security of a bank like BBVA.”

BBVA’s home country of Spain is the third country where the bank has launched crypto trading — it previously did so in Switzerland and Turkey in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

“Following this launch in Spain, BBVA has added another country to its digital assets service,” said the bank’s head of digital assets Francisco Maroto. “We are continuing to grow our digital assets business, both with new assets (crypto or stablecoins) and with traditional assets in tokenized form (bonds and funds). Our aim is to offer the best investment and transaction-based solutions to our customers.”

As required by the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA), the European Union’s rules that govern crypto services, BBVA completed notification formalities with the Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission and was approved by the agency to launch its crypto offerings in March 2025. To comply with regulation, the bank will not provide investment advice on the digital assets and access to the service will be exclusively customer-initiated through the app.

According to the bank, a distinguishing feature of the new service is that BBVA will utilize its own cryptographic key custody platform, allowing BBVA to maintain full control over safeguarding its customers’ crypto assets without relying on third parties.

Keeping crypto assets safe and secure for customers is a hot topic across international financial regulation. On Monday, several U.S. regulators issued a joint statement outlining risk considerations for providing crypto “safekeeping” services to bank customers. The move comes as part of the U.S. government’s more crypto-positive approach in recent months.