French Banking Giant BPCE Rolls Out BTC, ETH, SOL, USDC Trading For Two Million Users Today

French banking giant BPCE will offer crypto trading for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and USD Coin (USDC) for its two million retail clients starting today.

Clients will be able to trade those cryptos directly inside the group’s Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne mobile apps, The Big Whale reported.

Initial Rollout Will Be To Four Regional Banks

BPCE’s rollout will initially be to clients at four regional banks, including Banque Populaire Île-de-France and Caisse d’Épargne Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, which collectively boast about two million clients.

Crypto purchases in the mobile apps will be managed by dedicated digital asset accounts managed by Hexarq, which is BPCE’s crypto subsidiary, the report added. 

There will be a 2.99 euros ($3.48) monthly fee and a 1.5% commission per trade. 

The initial rollout will “monitor how the service performs at launch” and if successful, the BPCE will gradually scale it across its remaining 25 regional entities next year. This will open up crypto trading to its 12-million-strong retail base. 

Competition In Europe Heats Up

BPCE’s move comes amid growing competition in Europe between traditional banks and crypto-friendly fintechs, including Revolut, Deblock, Bitstack and Trade Public, which have all started offering crypto trading for their EU clients.  

Several European institutions have started offering crypto trading to their clients as well. Among them is BBVA, which gives its Spanish customers the ability to buy, sell, and hold BTC and ETH directly within its app. This builds on BBVA’s own in-house custody offering. 

Meanwhile, Santander’s digital arm Openbank offers trading and custody for five cryptos. Similarly, Raiffeisen Bank’s Vienna-based unit has partnered with Bitpanda to offer its retail clients crypto services. 

Europe Moves Towards Full MiCA Rollout

The move by BPCE and other firms also comes amid growing regulatory clarity in Europe. 

The European Union has already started rolling out its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which aims to set uniform, EU-wild rules around transparency, disclosure requirements, and the supervision of entities issuing or trading crypto assets. 

MiCA was formally adopted in 2023, while its stablecoin-related rules became applicable on June 30, 2024. 

MiCA-authorized stablecoin issuers (Source: X)

The full regime, covering service providers, trading, market abuse, etc., became fully applicable on Dec. 30 last year. However, a transitional period was introduced for some EU member states. 

The transitional periods for each member state vary, but generally end on July 1, 2026. This means that existing crypto asset service providers have until then or until they receive MiCA authorization to adjust with the new framework. 

Some countries, such as the Netherlands and Latvia, chose shorter deadlines that passed in the middle of this year.  

EU Proposes Making Crypto Regulation Less Fragmented

In addition to the MiCA framework, the European Commission has recently proposed giving the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) direct supervisory responsibility over crypto firms. This would see ESMA fulfill a similar role to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US. 

The goal of the proposal is to reduce fragmentation across the 27-state bloc, while also ensuring consistency in enforcement and oversight of the crypto space. 

If the proposal is approved, ESMA would take over licensing and monitoring of “significant” crypto asset service providers operating cross-border.