BBVA enables the buying and selling of bitcoin and ether for its customers in Spain
BBVA now offers its customers in Spain the possibility to buy and
sell bitcoin and ether, the two main cryptocurrencies by total market
value, as announced this Friday through a statement.
The implementation of this service has been carried out gradually
in recent weeks, after registering the notification with the
National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). In addition to allowing
transactions, the bank also acts as a custodian of the
cryptocurrencies.
The bank has decided not to provide advice on these
digital assets, and access to the service will be managed solely at
the client's initiative through the 'app'. For security reasons,
only users who have biometric authentication enabled on their mobile
devices will be able to carry out buying or selling operations.
'We want to facilitate our retail customers in Spain the
investment in crypto assets with a simple and easily accessible
offer from their mobile, in a 100% digital way. Our goal is to
accompany them in approaching digital assets with the
solvency and security that a bank like BBVA offers,' stated the
head of Retail Banking in Spain, Gonzalo Rodríguez.
The bank charges a fee of 1.49% for each buying or
selling operation. There is no charge for custody and management,
but transfers incur a fee of 4%.
In 2021, the bank introduced a buying, selling, and
custody service for bitcoin in Switzerland initially aimed at
private banking clients, which later expanded to include ether and
the 'stablecoin' USDC. Likewise, Garanti BBVA founded a specialized
subsidiary in Turkey in 2023, which already manages a variety of
crypto assets such as bitcoin, ether, USDC, solana, XRP, avax, or
chiliz, among others.
