BPCE Brings Crypto Trading to French Banking App - Mainstream Adoption Accelerates

France's second-largest banking group just threw open the vault doors to digital assets.

Banking App Gets a Crypto Upgrade

BPCE, the powerhouse behind Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne, is embedding cryptocurrency trading directly into its customer-facing application. This move effectively turns a traditional banking portal into a gateway for Bitcoin and beyond, sidestepping the need for external exchanges and bringing crypto to the fingertips of its massive French client base.

Mainstream's Silent Nod to Digital Gold

The integration signals a pivotal shift. It's not a niche fintech play; it's a legacy banking giant formally acknowledging crypto as a standard asset class for the everyday saver and investor. The strategy leverages existing trust and regulatory compliance—a smoother on-ramp compared to navigating the wilder frontiers of standalone crypto platforms.

A Calculated Bet on Consumer Demand

This isn't charity—it's a shrewd business calculation. BPCE is betting that its customers want convenience and familiarity over the perceived anarchy of decentralized exchanges. By offering in-app trading, they capture fees, increase engagement, and potentially lock in a generation of users who might otherwise drift to neobanks and crypto natives. One cynical observer might note it's a fantastic way for traditional finance to finally get a piece of the action they spent years dismissing as a fad.

The walls between old money and new are crumbling. Fast.

BPCE set to launch in-app crypto trading services

According to the report, the motive of BPCE is to enable crypto trading for its full 12 million customers. A bank source mentioned to The Big Whale that the phased approach is intended by the bank to monitor how the service performs at launch before scaling.

Crypto sales and purchases WOULD be handled through a dedicated digital asset account within the banking apps. According to the report, it is expected to be managed by Hexard, a crypto subsidiary of BPCE.

Users willing to sign up for an account must note that it carries a $3.48 monthly fee and 1.5% commission per trade, with a minimum of $1.16.

In addition, the platform will be accessible to users without the need for an external exchange or third-party wallets. The development comes as competition continues to intensify across Europe between traditional banks and crypto-friendly fintechs like Revolut, deBlock, Trade Republic, and Bitstack, all of which currently offer access to crypto.

Several European firms have also taken the same steps, with BBVA allowing its Spanish client base to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin and ethereum directly within its applications. According to the firm, the custody is handled in-house and not outsourced to third parties.

The firm noted that the integration was necessary because it wanted its users with existing BBVA accounts to be able to MOVE funds easily on their mobile application, which supports only trading and storage services.

Financial institutions move to integrate crypto

Aside from BBVA, Santander’s digital arm Openbank also offers trading and custody for five digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Polygon, and Cardano. Santander claimed that the service, which was rolled out for German clients, would integrate crypto alongside the usual investment products offered by Openbank, removing the need for third-party platforms while operating under the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework.

In addition, Raiffeisen Bank’s Vienna-based unit also partnered with Bitpanda to bring crypto services to its clients. “We have seen the demand from customers for easy, intuitive, digital investment platforms. Our main intention to take customer-centric decisions has triggered these efforts, which we are excited about bringing to market,” a spokesperson for the bank said at the time.

Meanwhile, France has moved forward with its decision to tax crypto as unproductive wealth. Last month, lawmakers in the country approved an amendment that would update the country’s wealth tax to cover unproductive assets, including certain real estate, luxury items, and digital assets like crypto.

Under the amendment, users holding more than $2.3 million in unproductive wealth will face a 1% tax, a shift from the present progressive real estate wealth tax.

Speaking about the amendment, Eric Larchevêque, co–founder of crypto wallet Ledger, noted that the amendment punishes all savers who wish to financially anchor themselves to Bitcoin or gold in order to secure their financial future.

He added that crypto holders may be asked to sell their assets to pay tax if there are no other liquid assets. However, the proposal is not set in stone as it needs to pass as part of the 2026 budget process before becoming law.

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