BBVA Introduces USDC to Swiss Clients, Expanding Crypto Custody Options

cryptonews.com:

Shalini is a crypto reporter who provides in-depth reports on daily developments and regulatory shifts in the cryptocurrency sector.

Spanish bank BBVA said Monday that it expanded its crypto custody and trading services to include USD Coin (USDC) for institutional and private banking clients in Switzerland. This update enables clients to trade, hold or convert USDC into euros, dollars or other currencies almost instantly.

The bank explained that investment fund managers and large corporations often use stablecoins like USDC to speed up transactions across different cryptocurrency exchanges. Additionally, stablecoins help mitigate the volatility risk of other cryptocurrencies by allowing assets to be converted into stablecoins, preserving their value during market fluctuations.

USDC’s primary advantage is its direct connection to the USD, which ensures its value remains stable, unlike the unpredictable nature of other cryptocurrencies. As a result, this stability makes it a reliable store of value in the market.

Also through BBVA, Garanti BBVA Digital Assets offers a service in Türkiye that allows customers to trade, store, and transfer USDC. Further, clients can trade Bitcoin, Ether, and AVAX, as well as securely store their Chiliz holdings.

BBVA said that USDC is the third crypto added to its digital asset services in Switzerland. The bank first introduced the service in 2021 with Bitcoin and Ether, which were in high demand among investors. Later, by the end of 2023, BBVA shifted its custody operations to Metaco’s Harmonize platform.

“We want to offer our private clients a simple access to the tokenized products they are most interested in and cannot access through traditional financial institutions,” said Philippe Meyer,