BBVA is expanding its cryptocurrency custody and trading services in Switzerland to include USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin whose value is pegged to the US dollar.

This addition will enable BBVA’s institutional clients to speed up their trading operations by enabling them to transfer value more efficiently with blockchain and secure their stablecoins into BBVA’s vault.

BBVA’s institutional and private banking clients in Switzerland, as well as those with a NewGen account, can now manage their USDC funds on the same platform where they handle their traditional investments. They can exchange, custody, or automatically convert USDC in near real-time into euros, dollars, or any other currency.

This incorporation also allows BBVA’s institutional clients to manage their operations on cryptocurrency exchanges more efficiently and faster. Investment fund managers and other large companies often use stablecoins, such as USDC, to trade cryptocurrencies in different crypto exchanges, thus completing the transactions more quickly. They also provide a way to hedge against the volatility of other cryptocurrencies, by converting assets into stablecoins to preserve value during market fluctuations.

USDC was launched in 2018 on the Ethereum blockchain, issued by Circle and supported by Coinbase, aiming to offer this price stability in the crypto environment and the ability to make faster and less costly transactions. It is audited to ensure that each unit in circulation has an equivalent in fiat currency and complies with US currency transmission and anti-fraud policies.

This is the third cryptocurrency BBVA has added to its digital asset service in Switzerland. In 2021, within a few months, it launched the service with bitcoin and ether. In late 2023, it migrated its custody capability to Metaco’s Harmonize platform, which streamlines transactions, follows the highest security standards, and allows connection with other blockchain networks.

“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. Meanwhile, our institutional clients need us to provide options to guarantee the assets they manage,” explains Philippe Meyer, Head of Digital Solutions and Blockchain at BBVA in Switzerland. “We will analyze all the crypto assets they are investing in to continue building our offering with further innovative solutions.”

USDC is also available through the cryptoassets trading, custody and transfer service that the bank offers in Türkiye through Garanti BBVA Digital Assets. Its customers can also trade in Bitcoin, Ether and AVAX, and custody their Chiliz funds.