BBVA adopts on‑chain custody
Spain’s BBVA has integrated Ripple Custody into its digital‑asset infrastructure as banks continue to pick partners for custody and settlement services. The move is one of several signs European banks and corporates are actively selecting vendors rather than running pilots. (x.com) (cryptonews.net)
BBVA is using Ripple’s custody technology to hold crypto assets for retail customers in Spain, extending a partnership the two companies already had in other markets. (ripple.com) Ripple said on September 9, 2025 that BBVA would integrate Ripple Custody into its new Spain service for trading and holding bitcoin and ether. BBVA had just opened that service to adult retail customers in Spain. (ripple.com) (bbva.com) Custody is the plumbing behind crypto investing: the bank or its technology provider safeguards the private keys that control the assets, much like a vault protects bearer instruments. Ripple described the BBVA setup as “self-custody technology” for institutions, meaning the bank keeps end-to-end control rather than sending assets to a retail exchange. (ripple.com) (coinmarketcap.com) The timing lines up with Europe’s new crypto rulebook. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, has applied across the European Union for crypto-asset service providers since December 30, 2024, after entering into force in June 2023. (esma.europa.eu) (eur-lex.europa.eu) MiCA sets common rules on authorization, disclosure, conduct and supervision for firms that issue, trade or safeguard crypto assets in the European Union. The European Securities and Markets Authority has also published supervisory guidance for national regulators reviewing crypto-service applications. (esma.europa.eu 1) (esma.europa.eu 2) BBVA was not starting from zero in crypto. BBVA Switzerland began offering bitcoin custody and trading in 2021, and Garanti BBVA in Türkiye later rolled out crypto services that also used custody technology tied to Metaco, the Swiss firm Ripple bought in 2023. (bbva.ch) (ledgerinsights.com) That history helps explain why the Spain launch looked more like vendor selection than a lab test. Ripple said the Spain deal “extends” its collaboration with the BBVA group, and industry coverage at the time described Switzerland and Türkiye as existing BBVA crypto operations already using the same custody stack. (ripple.com) (fintechfutures.com) Ripple has pitched that trend directly to banks. In the BBVA announcement, Ripple’s Europe managing director Cassie Craddock said MiCA was giving banks and financial institutions in the region the confidence to move from experiments to live digital-asset services. (ripple.com) BBVA’s move does not mean European banks are embracing every crypto business line at once. It does show a large lender choosing who will secure customer assets inside a regulated service, which is usually the unglamorous step that turns a pilot into a product. (esma.europa.eu) (ripple.com)
