Ripple has made a new agreement with BBVA in Spain to expand its digital footprint in Europe, another step in establishing institutional-grade digital asset services across the continent.
According to a press statement released by the bank on Monday, the partnership, which included tech company IBM, will see BBVA integrate Ripple’s digital asset custody technology into its recently launched retail platform that allows customers to buy, sell, and hold crypto such as Bitcoin and Ether.
BBVA, IBM, and Ripple to partner for custodial services
After a successful pilot project in 2023, BBVA is now scaling up the service through Garanti BBVA Kripto, the Turkish subsidiary that has already launched a regulated digital asset trading platform.
The service reportedly caters to more than 14,000 users, providing access to assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Avalanche (AVAX), Chiliz (CHZ), XRP, Arbitrum (ARB), and Solana (SOL). Ripple provides custody services, and IBM provides safe infrastructure.
Korcan Abalı, chief executive and board member of Garanti BBVA Kripto, said customer demand was the driving force behind the expansion.
“There has been a sharp increase in demand for digital assets among our customers. We launched Garanti BBVA Digital Assets in 2023 to meet this demand, and today we continue to see more customers transferring and storing crypto assets every day. Our collaboration with Ripple and IBM gives us the confidence of having secure custody, robust governance, and compliant processes,” he asserted.
IBM’s Türkiye general manager, Işıl Kılınç Gürtuna, told the press that the American firm will provide advanced infrastructure solutions for the custody business.
Ripple advances Europe reach under MiCA
In her statement on Garanti BBVA, Ripple executive and Europe managing director Cassie Craddock said the introduction of the EU’s Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation has created a more favorable environment for banks.
“Now that MiCA is established, the region’s banks are emboldened to launch the digital asset offerings that their customers are asking for,” she surmised.
Ripple Custody was developed after the company acquired Swiss crypto custody firm Metaco, which had previously signed up BBVA as a client. The acquisition gave Ripple a technological framework to service large financial institutions interested in digital assets, under MiCA’s strict compliance standards.
“Secure custody is foundational to unlocking value and addressing the growing demand for new asset classes across the digital economy,” remarked Aaron Sears, senior vice president of global customer and partner success at Ripple.
VivoPower adds RLUSD payments
Earlier today, London-based VivoPower International announced that its electric vehicle subsidiary, Tembo e-LV, is now accepting payments in Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD. The Nasdaq-listed company was founded in 2014 has business units in the United Kingdom, Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
The company is making changes in its business model to become an XRP-focused digital asset enterprise, which will see it acquire, manage, and hold XRP as a treasury, along with equity investments in Ripple Labs.
Meanwhile, Ripple’s token XRP is trading at about $3, consolidating within a defined range that has yet to cross $3.1 in the last seven days after momentum in the token cooled. After a rally in July, the crypto has struggled to break above the resistance zone between $3.4 and $3.5.
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