Ripple Announces Strategic Partnership with BBVA in Spain

Ripple is expanding its presence in Europe through a partnership with BBVA, one of the largest banks in Spain. As part of this collaboration, the bank will use Ripple's digital asset custody technology to support its new crypto-asset trading and custody service in Spain.

Ripple-BBVA Collaboration

In the latest step in Ripple’s expansion plan, the blockchain platform announced its new partnership with Spain’s BBVA. The deal coincides with European banks navigating the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which establishes a unified framework for crypto services across the EU. Cassie Craddock, the Managing Director at Ripple Europe, stated,

“Now that the EU’s Market's in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) is established across Europe, the region’s banks are emboldened to launch the digital asset offerings that their customers are asking for. BBVA has long been one of the region’s most innovative banks and we're proud to support its ambitions with the most secure and compliant digital asset technology on the market.”

As part of the agreement, the financial firm will embed Ripple Custody, the platform’s digital asset custody solution, to enable customers to securely trade and hold crypto and tokenized assets. With this solution,Spain’s banking institution can securely and legally give customers access to crypto and digital assets. This meets the changing needs of the market. The latest partnership between Ripple and BBVA in Spain builds on a long-standing relationship between the two companies, which already collaborate in Turkey and Switzerland. Acknowledging this move, BBVA Head Francisco Maroto said,

BBVA has long demonstrated strong leadership in digitization and innovation and the launch of our digital assets offering in Spain follows earlier offerings in Switzerland and Turkey…Through this agreement we can deliver on our goal of supporting our customers to explore digital assets, backed by the strength and security of a bank like BBVA.”

Vision of Global Expansion

Interestingly, the Ripple-BBVA collaboration aligns with the XRP platform’s broader vision of global expansion . Since its launch, the platform has been actively collaborating with industry giants and financial institutions to solidify its presence across the world.
Japan's SBI Holdings is Ripple's largest partner, with an investment of about $10 billion in Ripple Labs and XRP. Japan's banking sector is also expected to adopt XRP widely, with nearly 80% of banks projected to integrate it by 2025 for better cross-border payments and remittances.

In the Middle East and Africa, Riyadh Bank in Saudi Arabia and Standard Bank in South Africa have joined forces with the platform to improve remittance systems and make cross-border payments easier. Al Ansari Exchange and National Bank of Fujairah in the UAE use Ripple's technology for efficient cross-border payments. In the US, institutions like Frankenmuth Credit Union and PNC Financial Services have adopted Ripple's blockchain technology. American Express is also working with Ripple to speed up international payments.

European banks, such as Standard Chartered and Santander, use Ripple's technology to improve payment efficiency and liquidity. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is trying out Ripple's blockchain for payments, while Woori and Shinhan banks in South Korea have implemented Ripple's technology.