{"id":83819,"title":"Spain’s BBVA opens Bitcoin trading service to clients in Switzerland","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2021-06-20T11:25:46+00:00","modified":"2021-06-20T11:25:46+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/spains-bbva-opens-bitcoin-trading-service-to-clients-in-switzerland/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/spains-bbva-opens-bitcoin-trading-service-to-clients-in-switzerland.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/spains-bbva-opens-bitcoin-trading-service-to-clients-in-switzerland.json","category":"Blogs","categories":["Blogs","Fintech"],"tags":["Alfonso Gomez","banking","BBVA","Bitcoin","BTC","Central Banks","china","clients","cryptocurrencies","cryptocurrency","El Salvador","Goldman Sachs","Spain","Switzerland","TRADING","United States"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stencil-Google-Chrome-2023-04-19-at-2.47.43-PM.jpeg?fit=1231%2C615&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"**Spain’s BBVA** [(BBVA.MC)](https://www.reuters.com/companies/BBVA.MC) said on Friday said it was launching a bitcoin trading service for private banking clients in Switzerland interested in digital asset investment.\n\n**Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Emma Pinedo**\n\nThe bank said the new business, launching on June 21, would include bitcoin trading and custody services, with the aim of extending it to other cryptocurrencies. It would not offer advice on these types of investments, it said.\n\nBBVA said that during a gradual roll-out it had detected a “significant desire” among investors for crypto-assets or digital assets to diversify their portfolios despite their volatility and high risk, BBVA Switzerland’s Chief Executive Alfonso Gomez said in statement.\n\nThe trading service comes amid growing institutional interest in bitcoin. The largest cryptocurrency is seen by investors and some companies as a hedge against inflation as governments and central banks turn on the stimulus taps.\n\n**El Salvador** has become the world’s first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender even though central banks globally have repeatedly warned that investors in the cryptocurrency must be ready to lose all their money. [read more](https://www.reuters.com/business/bank-regulators-plan-conservative-capital-rule-bitcoin-2021-06-10/)\n\nMajor economies, including **China** and the **United States**, have signaled in recent weeks a **tougher approach**, while developing plans to develop their own central bank digital currencies.\n\nIn May **Goldman Sachs** [(GS.N)](https://www.reuters.com/companies/GS.N) revealed details of a cryptocurrency trading group, according to a staff memo seen by Reuters. [read more](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/goldman-launches-cryptocurrency-trading-team-memo-2021-05-07/)\n\nOn Friday, BBVA said it was limiting this new cryptocurrency service to Switzerland because the country has clear regulation and widespread adoption of digital assets.\n\n“Its extension to new countries or other types of customers will depend on whether the markets meet the appropriate conditions in terms of maturity, demand and regulation,” it said.\n\nBBVA is present in Switzerland through a fully owned franchise, focused on international banking services.\n\n**Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Emma Pinedo**\n\nOur Standards: [The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.](https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/trust-principles.html)\n\nSource [https://www.reuters.com/business/spains-bbva-opens-bitcoin-trading-service-clients-switzerland-2021-06-18/](https://www.reuters.com/business/spains-bbva-opens-bitcoin-trading-service-clients-switzerland-2021-06-18/)"}