The new offering enables Spanish retail customers to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin and Ether within an integrated banking environment alongside traditional financial services. BBVA has been rolling out the service over recent weeks.

The initiative operates under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which governs crypto-asset services across member states and provides investor protections. BBVA will not offer investment advice on these assets.

“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. Our goal is to support them as they explore digital assets, backed by the strength and security of a bank like BBVA,” said Gonzalo Rodríguez, Head of Retail Banking for Spain.

Spain represents BBVA’s third market for crypto services following Switzerland in 2021 and Turkey in 2023. The bank first launched a Bitcoin trading desk for private banking clients in Switzerland, later expanding to include Ether and USDC. At the time most other banking offerings included accredited investor requirements, whereas BBVA did not. However, it required a deposit equivalent to $10,000. Turkey’s Garanti BBVA subsidiary now offers a broader range of digital assets including Solana, XRP, and AVAX.

Francisco Maroto, Head of Digital Assets, highlighted the bank’s continued expansion in both crypto and tokenized traditional assets. The bank experimented with various types of digital bond issuances back in 2018/2019, for which it won an award. More recently, BBVA Asset Management explored tokenized funds in association with Allfunds Blockchain.