BBVA Goes All-In on Bitcoin: Advises Top Clients to Buy Big

Spanish Banking Giant Shakes Up Wealth Management with Crypto Push

Hang onto your hats, crypto fans! BBVA, the powerhouse Spanish bank, is telling its richest clients to dive into Bitcoin, and they're not messing around. Just a few months after saying they'd let customers trade crypto, BBVA's now pushing hard for their wealthiest to jump in with both feet.

Word on the street from Reuters is that BBVA's top brass are whispering in their high rollers' ears to stash 3% to 7% of their dough in Bitcoin and other cryptos. Yeah, you heard that right!

Over at the DigiAssets conference in London, Philippe Meyer, the head honcho of Digital & Blockchain Solutions at BBVA Switzerland, spilled the beans. Since September 2024, they've been schooling their private clients on the ins and outs of BTC investing. "The riskier profile, we allow up to 7% of crypto," Meyer declared, with a glint in his eye.

BBVA isn't stopping there. They're rolling out the red carpet for crypto trading and custody services in Spain. At first, it was just a VIP club of private clients getting their hands on Bitcoin and Ethereum, but soon, it'll be a full-blown party for all their private banking customers.

By jumping headfirst into the crypto game, BBVA is riding the wave with other old-school financial giants. But wait, there's a twist! The European Securities and Markets Authority's been waving red flags about crypto shaking up global financial stability. And get this, most EU banks are playing it cool, staying out of the crypto pool. Yet, whispers in the market are that more and more are ready to take the plunge. Insiders say it's only a matter of time before banks start hoarding Bitcoin like it's going out of style.

BBVA's been in the game since 2021, when they first let their private clients in Switzerland buy Bitcoin. They're not new to this; they're true to this.

Meanwhile, over at JPMorgan, things are heating up too. They're letting clients buy and hold Bitcoin, despite CEO Jamie Dimon's long-standing skepticism. Dimon even admitted he'd fight for his customers' right to play with digital assets. And in a shocking move, JPMorgan said they'd take spot Bitcoin ETFs as loan collateral from their wealthy clients. Rumor has it, BlackRock's BTC ETF is first in line for this wild ride.