Exclusive: Inside BBVA's Crypto Playbook – Interview with Francisco Maroto (Head of Digital Assets)

First one: On July 4, BBVA became the first bank in the European Union to launch regulated cryptocurrency trading and custody services for retail customers, offering Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) directly through its mobile banking app. The launch followed the bank’s receipt of its MiCA license on March 25.

• In-house solution: What sets BBVA apart is not just speed to market, but architecture. The bank has built its own in-house custody and trading infrastructure — a rare move among traditional players — and plans to extend this platform to institutional clients in the coming months. With live operations already in Switzerland, Turkey, and Spain, BBVA is preparing for further expansion across Europe.

Interview: To understand the strategy behind these moves, we spoke with Francisco Maroto, BBVA’s Head of Digital Assets. He explains why they rejected white-label solutions, their move to integrate crypto natively into the banking experience, and how the bank is now moving into tokenization, Visa-backed settlement, and infrastructure services for other institutions.

From Experiment to Strategy: How BBVA Built Its Digital Asset Vision

When did BBVA first decide to seriously explore crypto and digital assets? What was the initial thinking behind launching a crypto trading service?

We weren’t initially driven by KPIs or revenue metrics. This was a strategic decision guided by conviction. Let me walk you through it from the beginning.

Around eight or nine years ago, we began exploring blockchain through an innovation initiative. At first, we were simply trying to understand the implications of Bitcoin and blockchain for banking. We soon realized that these technologies could significantly transform the industry.

So, we formed a dedicated team and took a "learning by doing" approach. We ran experiments with different blockchain platforms and tested use cases across commercial banking, payments, supply chain finance, and global markets, including securitization.

After a few years of testing, it became clear that tokenization could have a meaningful impact. We decided to prepare the bank not only to operate in this future “tokenized” economy but also to help clients access it.

We see this new economy as a kind of internet of value, built around different types of tokens, whether financial or not, all relying on this foundational blockchain infrastructure. To be ready, we knew we had to develop three key capabilities: custody, trading, and tokenization.

Why start with custody and cryptoasset trading?

Five or six years ago, there were no tokenized financial assets being traded at scale, the only active market was crypto. So that’s where we started, using crypto trading as a way to fund and justify the development of custody and trading infrastructure to our leadership.

This allowed us to prepare for the future. When tokenized financial assets eventually emerge at scale, we’ll already be positioned with compliant, secure infrastructure

Initially, we considered using a white-labeled custody solution. But after the FTX collapse, it became clear that counterparty risk was a serious concern. We chose instead to build our own custody solution from the ground up, a decision that gave us end-to-end control across IT, compliance, and risk.

Yes, it meant a slower time to market. It took about two to three years to fully develop our trading and custody capabilities because we needed to connect legacy systems with new blockchain infrastructure. But it gave us institutional-grade resilience and peace of mind.

BBVA is one of the few banks to integrate crypto directly into its main banking app. Why?

It was a strategic decision. Our customers were already investing in crypto, often by transferring funds from BBVA to external exchanges. So we asked ourselves: why not offer this service directly?

By integrating crypto into the same app our customers use for fiat services, we can provide a seamless experience. It also reflects our belief that crypto should be part of a bank’s core offering, not outsourced or siloed.

This kind of integration was unthinkable for many banks just a few years ago, mostly due to reputational concerns. But as regulation improves and public understanding grows, we believe more banks will follow. MiCA is a key enabler. I expect that in the next one to two years, crypto will be part of the standard offering at most banks.

Going Global: BBVA’s Rollout Across Switzerland, Turkey, and Spain

The first country where you launched your offering was Switzerland in 2021. Why did you choose to start there?

We looked across our global footprint for a jurisdiction with clear regulations. Switzerland stood out. FINMA, the Swiss financial regulator, had already developed a strong understanding of the market.

Switzerland also offered the perfect sandbox. Our local BBVA operation is a small private bank, so we could experiment safely and bring in expertise from across the group. Four years ago, we launched trading and custody for crypto in Switzerland, and it’s been live ever since.

This gave us credibility internally and showed management that we could offer these services in a compliant and secure way.

And you later launched this service in Turkey as well…

Turkey was a market-driven decision. Turkey was a market-driven expansion. Crypto adoption is very high, particularly due to inflation and the use of stablecoins as a hedge.

At the time, Turkey was drafting its crypto regulatory framework. That gave us enough visibility to feel confident moving forward.

Unlike Switzerland, where we serve only private banking and institutional clients, in Turkey we serve all segments: retail, institutional, wholesale, and private banking. Today, we offer over 14 tokens and expect to reach 30 to 40 by year-end.

Turkish users are extremely savvy. They frequently move stablecoins between platforms to optimize FX rates and also invest in a wide range of tokens, including fan tokens from local football clubs. This is quite different from more conservative markets like Spain or Switzerland, where demand is mainly limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Spain is your latest expansion. Why now?

Thanks to MiCA, we now have regulatory clarity in the EU. We were the first traditional bank in Europe to receive MiCA approval to offer crypto trading and custody.

We launched in Spain just a few months ago, but for now, it’s retail only and limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Institutional and corporate services are in development and should be available next year.

Our plan is to allow other banks or institutions to use our crypto infrastructure in the same way they already use our traditional custody platform.

Why is the service only live in Spain, despite MiCA allowing passporting across Europe?

It’s because our BBVA banking app is currently only available in Spain. That’s where our crypto services are integrated.

However, we have launched digital banks in Italy and Germany that will add crypto services in the future.

Who are your liquidity providers? We know Bitstamp is one. Are there others?

Bitstamp was our first liquidity provider for Spain. In Switzerland and Turkey, we work with additional partners. Our goal is to have more than one liquidity provider. This ensures redundancy, better execution, and deeper liquidity for our clients. We’ll continue expanding this network.

Tokenization, Stablecoins, and the Institutional Play

In addition to crypto trading, you’re also looking to expand your tokenization offering. What are the priority use cases you plan to focus on?

Tokenization is still early. We need final regulatory regimes, the DLT pilot regime is a good start, but full clarity is necessary for this market to scale. For now, demand is limited. But we believe it will grow. The most relevant early use cases include:

1. Tokenized money market funds

2. Tokenized real estate

3. SME financing

All of these need tokenized cash, that is, onchain settlement. That’s why we’re prioritizing the tokenization of money. We’ve partnered with Visa to launch a euro-denominated token under MiCA. The first applications will be delivery-versus-payment (DvP) for securities and financing platforms using stablecoins.

We’ll start with “walled garden” use cases, where we know all participants, but why not in the future list them on different exchanges as well, similar to how stablecoins operate today.

Are you considering issuing your own tokenized money market fund? Or using existing ones?

We’re open to both. We’ve already experimented with issuing tokenized money market funds internally, only for BBVA employees so far. But we’re also looking at potentially using third-party tokenized funds, depending on what makes the most sense in each geography or regulatory environment.

Where do you see the strongest demand for tokenized assets today?

The three areas showing real activity are:

• Money market funds

• Collateral management

• Treasury and FX settlement use cases involving stablecoins

We’re seeing real volumes there. So we’re focusing on these sectors and exploring how to support or integrate with existing initiatives like HQLAx or similar.

Can you give us any figures, revenues, client numbers, or team size?

We don’t disclose financial or customer figures at this time.

In terms of personnel, we have a small team in Switzerland, as it’s a private bank. In Turkey, it’s around 60 - 100 people involved, directly or indirectly. In Spain, it’s around 30 - 50 people. Some are fully dedicated to crypto, others split time across projects. It’s a hybrid model.