The Turkish crypto custody platform, associated with BBVA, Spain’s second-biggest bank, Garanti BBVA Kripto, is close to offering crypto trading services to the public. With the complete implementation of the European Union’s MiCA Act on Dec. 30, the path has been cleared for over 50 European financial institutions to offer crypto services by Q1 2025.
The MiCA regulation has put clear rules in place, paving the way for more crypto adoption across Europe. Many European banks are already preparing to offer spot trading services, according to the chief sales officer at Bit2Me, Abel Peña.
Bit2Me partners with BBVA for crypto trading execution
Peña said he expects many to go live in early 2025. He concluded that Bit2Me is already in close contact with more than 50 financial institutions. They are finishing the integration with the crypto ecosystem. With billions in assets, BBVA has been making its strategic plays in crypto, first in Turkey, because of the more favorable regulatory conditions.
Now, with MiCA in place, European institutions like BBVA will receive the green light to go ahead with their crypto services. It is exposing its customers to leading assets like BTC and ETH, among others. Peña says that many institutions are already integrated with Bit2Me. So it’s a question of time when they start giving public crypto services.
Regulatory clarity fuels European banks’ crypto plans
A number of factors have driven the shift, according to Peña. Regulatory clarity under MiCA is one of them, but this has coincided with crypto-friendly politicians and public figures – such as President-elect Donald Trump – who will also likely increase confidence in custody solutions in general, added to which is the apparent success of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Successful crypto-based products, the inflows of $35 billion into US Bitcoin ETFs, underline that banks can no longer ignore demand for crypto exposure. BBVA is not alone in pursuing crypto. Deutsche Bank has been working on crypto services with Taurus, and Société Générale launched its crypto arm, a further demonstration of the growing interest of European banking groups in the digital asset space.
