Santander Rolls Out Crypto Trading in Europe via Openbank
What Santander Announced
The offering will expand to Spain in the coming weeks, with plans for additional tokens and crypto-to-crypto conversions. Coty de Monteverde, head of crypto at Santander, said the rollout comes “in response to customer demand.”
Investor Takeaway
Why Germany Is a Key Market
Germany has emerged as one of Europe’s most competitive banking landscapes for crypto adoption. DZ Bank piloted crypto services in 2024 across 700 cooperative banks using Börse Stuttgart Digital. In 2025, Deutsche Bank announced plans to launch digital asset custody in 2026 with Bitpanda and Taurus, reviving earlier ambitions.
More recently, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe—Germany’s largest retail banking network—said it would roll out crypto trading for nahead 50 million customers via its Sparkasse app by mid-2026, also using Börse Stuttgart Digital’s infrastructure. Together, these developments show that Germany is becoming a testing ground for regulated, bank-led crypto services under MiCA.
Santander’s Broader Crypto Strategy
Santander has been gradually building its digital asset capabilities. In 2018, it launched One Pay FX, a Ripple-powered payments app for identical-day cross-border transfers across Spain, the UK, Brazil and Poland. More recently, the bank has explored stablecoins, weighing the launch of dollar- and euro-pegged tokens for retail use.
Headquartered in Spain with over 175 million customers worldwide, Santander serves more than 2 million Openbank clients across Spain, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Mexico. By integrating crypto into its digital bank, Santander is positioning itself to capture rising European demand while leveraging MiCA’s unified regulatory framework.
Investor Takeaway
Global Context: Europe and the U.S.
Santander’s expansion comes as banks on both sides of the Atlantic respond to regulatory clarity and growing demand. In the EU, MiCA offers a unified licensing regime, enabling cross-border operations. In the U.S., the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025 has prompted JPMorgan, Citigroup and Bank of America to explore stablecoin issuance and consumer-facing crypto services.
Together, these developments show a convergence: traditional banks are not only experimenting with crypto but embedding it into retail and institutional offerings. For investors, the shift suggests that digital assets are moving from the periphery of finance to its core.
