BBVA, a big bank in Spain, is the first major bank in the country to offer 24/7 cryptocurrency trading. This means its customers can buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether any time they want using the bank’s online services.

The service, which was approved by Spain’s securities regulator CNMV, is an important step in bringing digital assets into Europe’s traditional financial system.

BBVA, the second-biggest bank in Spain with over $900 billion in assets and almost 70 million customers globally, said that users can buy, sell, and manage Bitcoin and Ether directly through its mobile app.

The new service works seamlessly with the same system BBVA uses for currency exchange, giving users a comfortable setting for trading.

At first, the service will be available to a small group of clients, and then it will grow to cover all of Spain in the next few months.

With MiCA now in place, BBVA is at the forefront of European banks embracing crypto for everyday customers.

The project is backed by SGX FX, a company in Singapore. They provide technology that helps financial institutions manage pricing, distribution, and risk by bringing together information.

SGX FX runs data centers in London, New York, Tokyo, and Singapore. They have teamed up with BBVA to make sure their system meets the global foreign exchange market’s operational standards.

SGX FX’s COO Vinay Trivedi said that this integration lets banks quickly enter the world of digital assets without having to completely change their systems.

BBVA will keep its customers’ holdings safe using its own secure key storage system instead of using outside companies.

The service will have a safe and easy-to-use design, and BBVA highlighted that customers will still have complete control over their investments since the bank will not give any advice.

Luis Martins, the global leader of macro trading at BBVA, said that digital assets are becoming an important part of global finance. He mentioned that the bank’s clients want to access these assets through the same reliable system they already use.

Gonzalo Rodríguez, who leads retail banking at BBVA Spain, said they want to make it easier for customers to invest in crypto. They plan to do this by allowing people to invest directly from their mobile phones in a simple and fully digital way, while still ensuring it is safe, backed by a major bank.

This change is allowed because of the European Union’s new law called Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), which creates the same rules for crypto services in all member countries.

Market watchers believe that BBVA’s launch might be the first of many similar actions by other banks in Europe.

In June, the bank started offering Bitcoin and Ether trading and storage for regular customers on its own mobile app, without depending on outside companies for help.

This move puts BBVA ahead of many other European banks in offering retail crypto trading.

Earlier this year, KBC Bank in Belgium said it wants to allow investments in Bitcoin and Ether through its Bolero platform, but it needs permission from regulators first. Deutsche Bank is working on using Ethereum rollup technology, and Société Générale has created a stablecoin backed by euros.

Around the world, banks are starting to link up with cryptocurrency more quickly. In Hong Kong, CMB International Securities, which is part of China Merchants Bank, started trading cryptocurrencies in August. They are offering Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether following the city’s new rules for stablecoins.

In the United States, Morgan Stanley plans to start offering digital asset trading for E-Trade clients in 2026. They will begin with Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana.

Right now, over 60 banks in Europe are trying out crypto services.

BBVA uses Ripple and Binance to create approved digital asset services.
Spanish bank BBVA is getting more involved in digital assets by increasing its investment advice and custody services in 2025.

In June, the bank started telling its wealth management clients to invest 3% to 7% of their portfolios in cryptocurrencies, based on how much risk they can handle. Philippe Meyer, who leads digital and blockchain solutions at BBVA Switzerland, said that bigger investments are set aside for clients who are willing to take more risks.

By August, BBVA made an agreement with Binance so that clients could keep their assets in the bank instead of on the exchange.

As part of the agreement, BBVA keeps customer money in the U. S Treasuries are government bonds that Binance allows you to use as a security for trading. The system is set up to lower the risk of problems with other parties and to prevent failures like those from earlier exchange shutdowns.

The partnership puts BBVA with companies like Sygnum and FlowBank, which Binance used before as separate storage options. Observers say that BBVA’s strong brand helps institutions with their background checks.

In September, BBVA grew its presence in the crypto world by partnering with Ripple. The bank will use Ripple’s advanced security technology to handle Bitcoin and Ether for its Spanish customers, helping it offer more safe digital asset services.