Openbank, Santander’s digital bank, said on Tuesday that it had launched a cryptocurrency trading service in Spainfollowing its competitor Bbva.
Banks are seeing increasing customer demand for crypto products after bitcoin hit all-time highs last month, aided by US President Donald Trump’s pro-cryptocurrency stance.
In June, Bbva advised high-net-worth clients to invest up to 7% of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies, giving heat to a sector previously avoided by conventional finance due to its risks.
The Openbank service operates within the framework of the EU cryptoasset markets and will allow clients to buy, sell and custody bitcoin, ether, litecoin, polygon and cardano directly in your app and website.
Openbank said it planned to expand the list of supported cryptocurrencies and conversions between different crypto assets in the coming months, with a commission of 1.49% per transaction or a minimum of 1 euro, without custody costs.
The deployment follows a recent launch in Germany.
In 2023, The Santander private bank launched a service that allowed its clients to invest and operate with bitcoin and ether.
Standard Chartered introduced the possibility of operating with bitcoin in July and spot ether through its UK branch for institutional clients.
