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Swiss private bank BBVA has announced an expansion of its partnership with digital asset custody and tokenization provider Metaco. The collaboration is expected to bring increased speed, efficiency, and the highest standards of governance to BBVA Switzerland as it accelerates its digital asset services for institutional clients.
BBVA Switzerland made headlines in the crypto industry when it became the first tier-1 bank in the Eurozone to offer custody and trading services for cryptocurrencies to individual clients. This pioneering service, which combines traditional and digital assets, was developed in collaboration with Metaco in 2021 and received the prestigious Celent Model Wealth Manager 2022 award.
As part of the extended partnership, BBVA Switzerland has successfully transitioned its digital assets operations to Metaco's institutional-grade digital asset custody and orchestration platform, Harmonize, which is provided in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. This advanced infrastructure will empower BBVA to further enhance its digital asset and private key custody capabilities, positioning the bank to support various business use cases within the digital asset landscape.
Notably, this includes expanding its services to institutional clients, a move that demands robust technology infrastructure to ensure maximum security and flexibility.
This development follows Metaco's recent partnership with HSBC, where the global bank announced its intentions to launch a digital assets custody service for institutional clients built on Metaco's Harmonize platform. Additionally, DZ Bank unveiled its institutional digital asset custody offering in Germany, underpinned by Metaco Harmonize. In a significant milestone, Societe Generale FORGE, a Metaco client, became the first bank to secure a full DASP license (Digital Asset Service Provider). In the Philippines, UnionBank became the first bank to obtain a VASP license (Virtual Asset Service Provider).
Metaco was acquired earlier this year by Ripple for $250 million.
Alfonso Gomez, CEO of BBVA in Switzerland, emphasized the significance of their partnership with Metaco, stating that it "allows us to stay ahead of the market, offering the most secure and compliant infrastructure."
