BBVA adds support for USDC stablecoin

BBVA, a banking group with interests in financial institutions in more than 30 countries, has announced a new feature for its private banking and institutional clients in Switzerland. They can now manage funds in USDC (USD Coin) on the same platform where they manage their traditional investments.

With this update, you can now exchange, hold, and automatically convert USDC to euros, dollars, or other currencies almost instantly.

According to the announcement, this innovation also facilitates institutional clients’ operations on cryptocurrency exchanges. This is because the new possibility offers greater agility and efficiency. As BBVA highlighted, fund managers and large companies have been using stablecoins, such as USDC, to speed up transactions and protect the value of their assets during market fluctuations, avoiding the volatility of traditional cryptocurrencies.

BBVA makes USDC stablecoin available to customers

USDC is a stablecoin launched by Circle, a global financial technology company. It is a stablecoin that maintains a peg to the US dollar. The currency is backed by highly liquid assets and can be redeemed at a 1:1 ratio against dollars.

According to BBVA, the stablecoin is widely used in decentralized finance (DeFi) and digital payments. In addition, it is the only stablecoin among the 10 largest in the market that complies with the new European legislation, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which regulates digital assets.

This is the third cryptocurrency that BBVA has added to its digital asset service in Switzerland. In 2021, the institution introduced Bitcoin and Ether, two of the most traded and sought-after cryptocurrencies by investors. In late 2023, the bank migrated its custody service to Metaco’s Harmonize platform, which allows for safer and faster transactions.

As highlighted by Philippe Meyer, Head of Digital Solutions and Blockchain at BBVA in Switzerland, the institution seeks to offer its private clients simplified access to tokenized products that are not available through traditional financial institutions.

“Our institutional clients, in turn, need options to ensure the security of the assets they manage,” Meyer explained. The bank intends to continue expanding its offering of innovative solutions.

USDC is also part of BBVA’s cryptocurrency services in Turkey, through Garanti BBVA Digital Assets. On this platform, clients can trade Bitcoin, Ether, AVAX, and hold their funds in Chiliz.

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