Ripple and BBVA Forge Digital Asset Custody Alliance in Spain
Spain's banking sector just got a crypto upgrade—Ripple partners with financial giant BBVA to launch institutional-grade digital asset custody services.
Breaking Traditional Barriers
Forget clunky legacy systems—this partnership slashes settlement times from days to seconds. BBVA brings regulatory muscle and client networks; Ripple delivers blockchain infrastructure that actually scales.
Institutional Adoption Accelerates
Banks finally waking up to digital assets? BBVA's move signals that even traditional finance can't ignore the efficiency gains—though they'll probably still charge you a 'custodial convenience fee' for the privilege.
Market Impact
Watch for competitors scrambling to match this offering. When a bank with BBVA's footprint embraces crypto custody, it legitimizes the entire sector—while conveniently expanding their revenue streams.
Spain becomes the testing ground where legacy finance and blockchain finally collide. The question isn't whether other banks will follow—it's how many will overcomplicate what should be a simple custody solution.
MiCA compliance
Ripple’s European managing director, Cassie Craddock, said these developments reflect the market impact of MiCA among traditional European banks. With MiCA now in place, she explained, banks across the bloc feel more confident about launching digital asset services that customers have requested.
BBVA executives echoed this sentiment, while adding that the partnership allows the bank to expand its end-to-end crypto services
Francisco Maroto, who leads BBVA’s digital asset unit, noted that Ripple’s custody system offers the operational reliability and security needed to build customer trust.
He added:
“Through this agreement we can deliver on our goal of supporting our customers to explore digital assets, backed by the strength and security of a bank like BBVA.”
This collaboration follows earlier projects between Ripple and BBVA in Turkey and Switzerland.
Notably, BBVA’s Switzerland had previously collaborated with Ripple-owned Metaco to build its digital asset operations in 2023.
