Spanish Bank BBVA is now advising its wealthy clients on investing up to 7% of their portfolios in crypto and bitcoin, showing how traditional banks are starting to see the potential of Bitcoin.
“With private customers, since September last year, we started advising on Bitcoin,” said Philippe Meyer, head of Digital & Blockchain Solutions at BBVA Switzerland, during the Digiassets Conference in London. “The more risky profile we allow up to 7% of portfolios in crypto.”
The bank’s private wealth department currently recommends that clients allocate 3% to 7% of their portfolio to Bitcoin and Crypto, depending on their individual appetite. While many private banks have offered to perform Bitcoin or Crypto trades upon request, it is still rare for a global financial institution to formally advise clients to buy. BBVA currently recommends assignments specifically in Bitcoin.
Meyer emphasized that even a modest allocation to Bitcoin may have a meaningful impact on portfolio returns, “If you look at a balanced portfolio, if you introduce 3%, you are already increasing the benefit,” he said. “To 3%you don’t take a huge risk.”
BBVA began to make Bitcoin purchases for its clients in 2021, but Meyer said this is the first time it is formally advising awards. In June 2021, the bank launched Bitcoin Trading and Coopolity Services through its Swiss subsidiary of private clients. “With this innovative offer, BBVA positions itself as a benchmark institution in the adoption of blockchain technology,” said BBVA Switzerland CEO Alfonso Gómez at that time.
BBVA’s interest in digital currency goes back even further. Already in 2015, the bank made it clear that it saw Bitcoin and Blockchain technology as more than just a passing trend. In a statement that now seems more and more prescient, BBVA said “institutions that understand Bitcoin and digital currencies will lead the new monetary system,” emphasizes its belief that early adoptors would gain a strategic advantage.
This early support puts BBVA except for many of its peers, as few large banks were willing to publicly engage in Bitcoin at the time.
What began as an interest in blockchain technology has turned into direct investment instructions, now culminating in BBVA formally advising wealthy clients to award up to 7% of their portfolios to Bitcoin, a clear sign that the bank sees it as a long -term part of its future.