Bilbao Bank (BBVA.US) will provide cryptocurrency services to retail customers in Spain.

Spanish bank BBVA has obtained regulatory approval in Spain to provide integrated services for custody and execution of cryptocurrency assets in the Spanish market. The second largest commercial bank in Spain announced on Monday that it has received formal approval from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and is preparing to "introduce related services to retail customers, initially supporting Bitcoin and Ethereum." A spokesperson for CNMV confirmed the approval. BBVA stated that it will first offer this service to "a small number of users" and expand to all private clients of the bank "in the coming months." The bank, headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, has also been conducting similar cryptocurrency asset management business in Switzerland and Turkey. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, also known as BBVA, emphasized in a statement that it will use its proprietary cryptocurrency custody platform, independent of third-party institutions. Last month, BBVA announced plans to strengthen its corporate and investment banking division by integrating its technology businesses from other areas of the bank. An internal memo from the second largest Spanish lender at the time indicated that BBVA plans to focus on its BBVA Spark for high growth tech companies and integrate its digital assets and blockchain strategy into the corporate and investment banking division.