Crypto Trade Now Legalised: Turkey’s Garanti BBVA Bank

Crypto Trade Launch By Turkey’s 5th Largest Bank

Crypto Trade Service Launch: Turkey’s Garanti BBVA Bank

European banks are now expanding services to include crypto. Turkey’s fifth largest bank, Garanti BBVA, is now set to launch its crypto trading services. The services will be for the retail users via its crypto custody platform, Garanti BBVA Kripto.

The bank is owned by the Spanish banking giant, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). It will enter into partnership with Bit2me, which is a crypto exchange founded in Spain. 

As per some data, Turkey is the 3rd largest market in the world when seen from the point of view of cryptocurrency adoption. It is thus underscoring the demand for digital assets. 

Role of MiCA and Bit2me

The European Union’s MiCA (Markets in crypto-assets) regulation has fully gone into effect since Dec. 30, 2024. It is, therefore, a more confident decision for the traditional financial institutions to enter the digital asset market. MiCA is paving the way for a strong legal framework for cryptocurrencies.

Bit2me’s co-founder and CEO, Leif Ferreira, has said that 2025 will be a major start for banks to offer crypto trade services. They’ll be collaborating with more than 50 financial institutions and help them with the launch of their crypto products during this year.

Bit2me’s CSO, Abel Pena, has emphasized on the importance of banks throughout the world in normalizing access to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Financial institutions are necessary to ensure that Bitcoin grows on a continuous basis, further proving that there exist no boundaries for technology.

It is the effect on the MiCA’s crypto framework, that BBVA and similar financial institutions are now able to obtain approval from home regulators and offer exposure to BTC, ETH, etc. to their European clients.

The MiCA further insists upon its willingness to enable safe, easy-to-use, as well as regulated digital asset management platforms for the millions of retail crypto users of Europe.  

Past Examples 

The past has seen several European banks trying to gain crypto exposure. One such example is Germany’s biggest multinational investment bank, Deutsche Bank, that’s been exploring Ethereum using ZKsync technology while also providing banking services in key markets.