The Shift in Spanish Banking: Embracing Cryptocurrencies
In March 2025, BBVA emerged as a pioneer among traditional banks in Spain, permitting its clients to operate in cryptocurrencies. Following this significant move, other banks like CaixaBank and OpenBank quickly jumped on the bandwagon. However, there’s a crucial aspect to this shift: while these banks allow clients to engage with cryptocurrencies, they stop short of offering advice on how to navigate this complex market.
You Cook It, You Eat It
This evolution in traditional banking signifies that cryptocurrencies have made considerable inroads, even among conservative financial institutions. However, the inherent reluctance of these banks to fully embrace the crypto realm shows their desire to avoid excessive risk. Although they facilitate the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, the responsibility lies entirely with the client. In essence, banks are saying: if you choose to enter the crypto space, you do so without guidance or support.
Nobody Wants to Advise
A report from the ESMA and the EBA reveals a consistent trend across most banks: they permit cryptocurrency trading but refrain from offering advisory services. Out of the 110 entities authorized under the MiCA regulation in Europe, only 20 have applied to offer crypto advice. Just eleven of these provide recommendations, with another nine offering portfolio management services. This pattern highlights a deliberate choice by these institutions to keep the responsibility for crypto investments firmly in the hands of the clients.
Too Much Risk
The hesitance extends beyond traditional banks to include established exchanges and trading markets. These platforms have historically been the primary venues for cryptocurrency trading, yet they too abstain from providing advisory assistance. Investors typically understand that entering the crypto market is a high-risk endeavor, something that resonates with traditional banks as well. They further distance themselves from any liability by acknowledging the reputational risks involved, especially considering the volatility of cryptocurrencies, which complicates the possibility of giving sound advice.
Crypto Analyses Guarantee (Almost) Nothing
As noted by Gliroia Hernández Aler, co-founder of finReg360, “Crypto assets have the value that the market assigns to them.” The lack of tangible underlying assets to analyze—unlike traditional investments with clear income statements—makes it challenging to provide objective recommendations. Although increasing news coverage can influence public perception about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, making reliable quantitative assessments using traditional methods remains a daunting task.
MiCA Opened the Market
To tackle the chaotic nature of the cryptocurrency market, European regulators introduced the MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) regulation in mid-2023. This framework aims to bring order to the previously unregulated domain, providing necessary consumer and investor protections while implementing measures against market abuses.
Banks as the New Exchanges
It took time for banks to integrate these regulatory changes fully, but we are now witnessing an increasing number of traditional financial institutions entering the cryptocurrency landscape. The message is resoundingly clear: you no longer need to navigate obscure cryptocurrency exchanges. You can now make purchases directly through your everyday bank, albeit with the understanding that you must handle the associated risks entirely on your own.