Key Takeaways
- Major European banks are increasingly open to retail crypto trading.
- Some of the biggest players that offer the service include BBVA, Santander Group, and PostFinance.
- Retail banks can choose to build their own exchange or deploy a white label solution.
It wasn’t long ago that large European retail banks wouldn’t touch crypto, which was mostly the preserve of private investment banks.
But all across the continent, banks are embracing retail crypto trading, with institutions in Spain, Germany, Switzerland and beyond offering the service to customers.
Retail Banks Embrace Crypto
Prior to 2017, the only European banks that offered crypto services were private institutions catering to the investment needs of wealthy clients. But in December that year, Swissquote opened the door to retail participation in the crypto market, listing Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, and Ripple, with purchases of as little as 5 euros.
Switzerland continued to serve as a vanguard throughout the late 2010s, when Dukascopy Bank and Sygnum joined the crypto party.
From 2020, more banks followed suit in Italy, Germany and Estonia. But until recently, retail crypto trading was limited to a handful of smaller, national banks, as well as the neobanks Revolut and N26.
That changed when Spanish banking giant BBVA introduced trading and custody service for Bitcoin and Ether in July this year.
Other major players are following in BBVA’s footsteps.
On Sept. 16, Santander launched crypto trading via its digital-first subsidiary, Openbank. Initially only available to customers in Germany, the bank has started rolling the service out in Spain, where its parent group manages over a trillion euros in deposits.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has reportedly partnered with Bitpanda to develop a digital assets custody service, expected to launch next year.
In-House vs. White Label
Retail banks looking to add cryptocurrency services to their offering can choose to either build their own exchange in-house, or deploy one of several white label solutions.
Leading providers of crypto trading-as-a-service platforms include the specialized crypto banks, AMINA and Sygnum.
Having successfully built their own infrastructure, with all the necessary compliance and custody tooling, these banks now distribute it to partners like PostFinance, as well as several smaller, regional banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Traditional crypto exchanges have also entered the white label market. Under the hood, N26 and Raiffeisenlandesbank both run on Bitpanda’s white-label API infrastructure, while Deutsche Bank is expected to tap the company for custody services.
European Banks That Offer Crypto Trading
| Bank |
Date Launched |
Cryptocurrencies Offered |
| Swissquote (CH) |
July 2017 |
50+ cryptos |
| Revolut (UK/EEA) |
December 2017 |
100+ cryptos |
| Dukascopy Bank (CH) |
October 2018 |
Crypto CFDs + own token (DUK) |
| Sygnum Bank (CH) |
September 2019 |
20+ |
| Amina Bank / SEBA (CH) |
November 2019 |
20+ |
| Hype / Banca Sella Group (IT) |
March 2020 |
BTC only |
| Trade Republic Bank (DE/EU) |
April 2021 |
50+ cryptos |
| LHV Pank (EE) |
November 2021 |
15 cryptos |
| Banca Generali (IT) |
February 2022 |
BTC only |
| Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Bayern Mitte (DE) |
April 2022 |
BTC only |
| N26 (DE/EU) |
October 2022 |
200+ cryptos |
| Raiffeisenlandesbank (AT) |
January 2024 |
250+ cryptos |
| PostFinance (CH) |
February 2024 |
16 cryptos |
| BBVA (Spain) |
July 2025 |
BTC, ETH |
| Openbank (Santander Digital Bank) |
September 2025 |
BTC, ETH, LTC, MATIC, ADA |
| Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (DE) |
Pending |
BTC, ETH |
| OKBC Bank (BE) |
Pending |
BTC, ETH |
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
