On September 9, Ripple announced that it has partnered with Spain’s second-largest bank, BBVA, and will now provide its digital asset custody technology to the bank.
This aligns with BBVA’s recent move to offer crypto services through its banking app. The bank allows all customers of legal age in Spain to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin and Ether, which makes it quite seamless for the average customer to get into crypto.
“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.
Through the new partnership, BBVA will take advantage of Ripple Custody, Ripple’s digital asset self-custody technology. This will allow the bank to offer a secure and scalable custody service for tokenised assets, including crypto assets.
“Ripple’s custody solution allows us to leverage proven and trusted technology that meets the highest security and operational standards, allowing BBVA to directly provide an end-to-end custody service to its customers. Through this agreement we can deliver on our goal of supporting our customers to explore digital assets, backed by the strength and security of a bank like BBVA,” said Francisco Maroto, Head of Digital Assets at BBVA.
BBVA’s ongoing digital asset strategy
The new agreement between Ripple and BBVA isn’t the first. The move builds on a longstanding collaboration between the two companies.
Ripple already provides custody services for BBVA Switzerland and Garanti BBVA in Turkey.
BBVA launched its crypto service in Switzerland back in 2021, and at that time, it was only directed to its private clients. It then partnered with Metaco, now Ripple, to use its custody infrastructure.
The move would allow “greater operational agility, maximum security and the ability to connect to other blockchains, apart from Bitcoin and Ethereum.”
After success, BBVA Switzerland later added Ether and USDC support. It also expanded beyond private clients to those who create “New Gen” accounts.
Garanti BBVA followed in those footsteps in 2023 and established a specialised company, Garanti BBVA Kripto, to offer its crypto services. After a successful pilot, the crypto company partnered with Ripple and IBM in 2024 and rolled out the services to its entire customer base. It now supports 18 crypto assets.
BBVA’s launch of crypto services in Spain has now added a third country to its Digital Assets service.
MiCA as the enabler
In Ripple’s press release, Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s Managing Director for Europe, said, “Now that the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) is established across Europe, the region’s banks are emboldened to launch the digital asset offerings that their customers are asking for.”
MiCA is the EU’s new regulatory framework for crypto assets. It’s been in the pipeline since 2020, but it was only finalised and implemented on December 30, 2024. The regulation consists of seven titles, among them rules for crypto platforms and requirements for issuing crypto assets. Its goal is to ensure a unified approach to crypto assets in the EU, protect investors, and ensure financial stability by preventing market manipulation.
This stabilisation of the crypto market in Europe has opened doors for traditional institutions to get into crypto, and BBVA is already advising its clients to invest 3% to 7% of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies, depending on their risk appetite. This made the institution one of the first large global banks to urge its wealthy clients to invest in crypto.
However, other major banks in Europe are also actively pursuing crypto after MiCA came into play. In July, Bloomberg reported that Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, is planning to launch its digital assets custody service next year. The bank has partnered with crypto exchange Bitpanda to help build its platform.
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, the largest financial services group in Germany and Europe by assets, is also planning to roll out crypto services to its nearly 50 million customers. There’s also Germany’s second-largest financial institution, DZ Bank, which partnered with Boerse Stuttgart Digital in 2024 for a pilot programme and is set to roll out trading and custody services.
These moves show the confidence that traditional financial institutions are increasingly getting in crypto, and MiCA’s market stabilisation is a big part of that.
Ripple’s role as a long-term infrastructure provider
Through the BBVA deal, Ripple has now expanded into Spain, which is a major step in its expansion into European financial markets. The platform has enjoyed continued growth through custody services, and in the age of MiCA, its infrastructure is designed to allow financial institutions to meet stringent security, operational, and regulatory demands.
Ripple now boasts over 60 regulatory licences worldwide, which underscores its growing global reach. One of its other major licensing wins this year was announced in March, when it was authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to offer regulated crypto payments and services within the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC). This made it the first blockchain-enabled payments provider to obtain a bitcoin licence from the DFSA.
The ongoing expansions have also had a positive effect on Ripple’s payment coin, XRP, which currently stands at $3.16. It has enjoyed a +436.80% surge in the past year, and Ripple’s continued growth is only expected to fuel it further.
