Openbank Expands Crypto Access: Spain Up Next
Grupo Santander’s online banking division, Openbank, has made cryptocurrency trading available to its German clients. The service would let users purchase, sell, and keep Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Polygon, and Cardano all within their current accounts, the business said in a news release. This implies that users won’t have to send money to other platforms anymore. In the upcoming weeks, Spain will also be included in the rollout, the firm announced.
Openbank Joins BBVA, Cecabank in Leveraging EU MiCA Framework
The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation of the European Union, which offers a uniform framework for investor protection throughout the EU, supports the deployment. Openbank joined peers like BBVA and Cecabank in taking advantage of the new regime when it obtained its MiCA license earlier this year.
According to earlier reports from Blockworks, MiCA is speeding up traditional European banks’ forays into the digital asset market. The goal of the law is to provide legal certainty to institutions and lessen fragmentation by standardizing custody, trading, and issuance regulations throughout the EU. By demonstrating how established institutions are now lining up against cryptocurrency-native exchanges within a unified regulatory framework, Openbank’s rollout continues that trend.
Openbank Solidifies Its Place in Digital Finance With Crypto Integration
While custody is free, customers must pay a transaction fee of 1.49%, with a minimum of €1 per operation. Openbank indicated that it intends to facilitate crypto-to-crypto conversions and add more tokens in the upcoming months. This new project comes after the bank’s wider foray into digital investment tools, which now include access to hundreds of stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as well as its AI-powered trading platform.
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