Overview
- Beginning Dec. 8, customers at four BPCE regional banks can buy and sell bitcoin, ether, solana and USDC inside the Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps, including at Banque Populaire Île-de-France and Caisse d’Épargne Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
- The initial cohort targets roughly two million retail clients, with BPCE planning a broader rollout to its roughly 12 million customers through 2026 depending on pilot results.
- Trading runs through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq that charges €2.99 per month and a 1.5% commission per trade with a €1 minimum.
- A BPCE representative said the phased approach is designed to monitor user adoption and system performance before scaling the service across the group.
- The launch comes as EU MiCA rules take hold in France, where Hexarq holds PSAN authorization, and as lawmakers weigh a crypto tax in the Senate that could take effect Jan. 1, 2026 if approved, with European peers like BBVA and Santander’s Openbank already offering retail crypto access.