Why Spain’s Largest Bank Offers Crypto Trading

Banco Santander, the largest bank in Spain and fourth-largest in Europe, is rolling out a crypto trading service. For now, the rollout will only cover users in Germany before future expansions.

The firm will allow buying, selling, and trading of five assets: Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Polygon, and Cardano. It plans to add more tokens and more functionality soon.

Crypto Adoption in Spain

A few of Spain’s prominent companies have been exploring the crypto space recently; in June, a major coffee firm totally pivoted to Bitcoin acquisition. This led to a massive stock surge for the company, and now, Banco Santander is exploring the Web3 sector in its own right.

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Openbank, the firm’s all-digital platform, will be the home for this rollout. Starting today, Openbank users in Germany gained access to full trading capabilities for several assets.

The bank is using this country as a testing ground; the crypto trading platform will reach customers in Spain in the next few weeks.

At present, Banco Santander is allowing Openbank customers to buy, sell, or hold five assets: Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Polygon, and Cardano. The bank is planning to add more tokens in the future, alongside crypto conversion options.

The Bank’s Future Plans

During this pilot, users can only exchange each token for fiat, but this will change soon. One company executive was particularly enthusiastic about expanding the program:

“By incorporating the main cryptocurrencies into our investment platform, we are responding to the demand of some of our customers and continue to strengthen a broad range of products and services through an agile, simple technology platform backed by one of the world’s leading financial groups, claimed Coty de Monteverde, Grupo Santander’s Head of Crypto.

Because this bank is based in Spain, it has to meet compliance with EU crypto regulations like MiCA. Banco Santander emphasized that it will offer the relevant consumer protection protocols, as well as 1.49% fees on token sales and purchases.

It’s unclear if these fees will also apply to future token-to-token conversions.

TradFi has been getting particularly involved with crypto lately, and Spain’s largest bank is joining the trend. If this rollout goes well, it could encourage broader adoption from the finance industry across Europe.