Spanish financial group BBVA, one of the largest in the world, in collaboration with Ripple, is launching a service for retail clients in Spain to access cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets.
FinTech company Ripple signed an agreement with Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) to provide digital asset custody technologies.
The agreement involves the use of Ripple Custody, an institutional-grade self-custody technology for storing digital assets. This will allow BBVA to offer its retail clients in Spain a scalable and secure service for storing tokenized assets and cryptocurrencies.
Self-custody means that the service provider itself controls the private keys and infrastructure used to store clients’ digital assets. In this case, Ripple supplies the software and infrastructure, but BBVA maintains full control over their operation.
Francisco Maroto, Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets at BBVA, emphasized that Ripple’s technology enables the bank to ensure high levels of security and regulatory compliance while providing clients with direct access to custody services. Cassie Craddock, Managing Director of Ripple for Europe and the U.K., noted that the adoption of digital asset products by European banking institutions has been driven forward by the implementation of the MiCA regulation.
This collaboration is a continuation of the long-standing partnership between Ripple and BBVA. Previously, the Spanish financial group introduced digital asset services in Switzerland and Turkey through its subsidiaries with Ripple’s technological support. In addition, the expansion of cooperation supports the launch of BBVA’s services in Spain for trading and storing Bitcoin and Ethereum for retail clients.
