• BBVA urges wealthy clients to allocate 3–7% to cryptocurrencies.

• Bank sees Bitcoin as a strategic asset for long-term portfolio growth.

• Digital platform expands to support more crypto, starting with Ethereum.

BBVA, Spain’s second-largest bank, now recommends that its wealthy clients invest a portion of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies. This calculated step is an indication that the bank is increasingly becoming confident of digital assets and, in particular, Bitcoin and Ethereum. The advice is uttered with caution but represents one of the first changes in perspective of the usual financial institutions in regard to the crypto market.

BBVA to Advise Wealthy Clients on 3–7% Crypto Portfolio Allocation

Later this year, BBVA will recommend its private clientele to set aside 3%-7 % of their investments in digital currencies. The percentage of risk taken will depend on the risk appetite of each client. Philippe Meyer, leader at BBVA Switzerland Digital and Blockchain Solutions, made each of these remarks at the DigiAssets conference in London. He insisted that last year, BBVA started to give recommendations on Bitcoin investment and that since then, the bank has raised the recommended portfolio exposure to the clients with a higher risk appetite.

Meyer indicated that crypto investing is already integrated into a wider strategy of managing wealth in BBVA. He observed that balanced portfolio clients who invested just a small percentage in crypto performed better in the end. He noted that the application of only 3% of Bitcoin could substantially increase returns. Meyer emphasized that this kind of exposure is not associated with an excessive risk.

The crypto strategy of BBVA is different from the conservative approach of a large part of the banks in Europe. According to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), almost all of the EU banks shun crypto. BBVA, despite these dangers, moves on. The bank reckons that digital assets can be utilized to make effective use of long-term investment planning.

In its turn, the Spanish financial regulator (CNMV) approved crypto trading services offered by BBVA earlier this year. The authorization served to make BBVA the first big Spanish bank that legally offered crypto trading to customers. With a few small-scale customers in the initial stages, the bank targets to make the services available to retail customers.

Bank Plans to Add More Cryptocurrencies to Digital Platform

The bank’s digital platform will soon allow users to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum. BBVA will also increase this list with more cryptocurrencies in the future. This growth is one of the attempts to bring crypto closer by using the bank’s tools.

The responses of the clients are satisfactory. Meyer says that most high-net-worth people consider cryptocurrencies as a new stimulating prospect, particularly in the current market patterns. Recently, Bitcoin has recorded new peaks after its crash in 2022. Investors are listening, and BBVA is making them discover these new opportunities.

In the meantime, there have been changes in the political cues as well. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has supported digital currencies. This support of a world leader has helped in enhancing a more positive spirit pertaining to the crypto business sector.

BBVA started providing crypto investing on a demand basis in 2021. The new recommendation depicts a more organized, strategic policy. The bank has currently become one of the leading institutions at the forefront of taking clients into this emerging space.

Encouraging crypto investments, BBVA positively changes the European banking practices. Its measures can encourage other banks to rethink the issue. Since digital finance is on the rise, BBVA seems to be prepared to initiate this change, silently but with great confidence.