Overview
- Ripple said on Sept. 9 that BBVA will integrate its institutional-grade custody technology to manage bitcoin and ether for Spanish retail clients.
- BBVA customers can buy, sell, and hold the assets directly in the bank’s mobile app, with end-to-end custody operated by the bank.
- The Spanish lender disclosed the retail crypto offering to the CNMV, and both firms say the service is designed to comply with the EU’s MiCA framework.
- The Spain move extends BBVA’s prior deployments of Ripple-backed custody in Switzerland and Turkey, and Ripple cites holding more than 60 regulatory licenses globally.
- Executives from both companies say MiCA has encouraged European banks to launch regulated digital-asset services, reflecting a shift to in-house offerings built on established infrastructure providers.