It was the first large Spanish entity and one of the first in the world to offer some of its clients a sale and custody service for , but the bank strongly advises against acquiring this type of asset due to the risks involved and the lack of of regulation.
“We do not advise investment”; “We have told our clients not to invest in bitcoin.” In this blunt way, the director of private banking for BBVA in Spain, Jorge Gordo, was shown this week, as it is not a regulated asset, it is a complex instrument and it suffers from extreme volatility. Some statements that he completed with a comparison of cryptocurrency with Russian roulette. Both things “are the same”, he indicated in a forum organized by Inversión.
Gordo’s statements occur in a context in which bitcoin is on the way to new highs, in an evolution of strong ups and downs, up to the barrier of 60,000 dollars per unit and two and a half months after his own bank launched its first commercial service with these virtual currencies. In December he announced that in January he would start offering bitcoin trading and custody in Switzerland. Then the Spanish entity indicated that with this it responded to the growing demand of highly knowledgeable investors who were already operating with these digital currencies through ‘fintechs’ or ‘startups’.
Some platforms to which Gordo referred. “If a customer wants to buy it, it’s easy with an App, but not with us,” said the manager.
It is true that BBVA in Spain does not yet offer the possibility of purchasing these assets and that it has begun to explore this new business in Switzerland, a country where it has an advanced ecosystem in terms of regulation and adoption of digital assets, with numerous companies specialized in ‘blockchain’ technology, which is used in the digital market. The bank is active in the Swiss state for the international activity of private banking clients.
Regulation underway in Europe
The bank’s intention is to launch the same service in the rest of the territories where it operates once the regulations are adapted. In Europe, a regulation is being worked on to be able to put controls on bitcoin and the rest of virtual currencies, among which Ethereum stands out.
In recent months, these assets have aroused the interest of many institutions and individuals and the price has skyrocketed due to the increasingly consistent entry of qualified investors. It should be remembered with the acquisition of bitcoins for an amount of 1,500 million dollars. Since then, by keeping these assets in its portfolio, it has accumulated capital gains of 700 million dollars.
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