On the week of February 16, 2026, Eastern Standard Time, Belgium's second-largest bank, KBC Group, announced that it would open BTC/ETH trading to retail and private investors through its online investment platform Bolero, becoming the first bank in Belgium to offer such services. This move is not an isolated commercial trial but occurs after the official implementation of the EU MiCA regulatory framework. KBC needs to complete compliance procedures such as CASP notification under this framework, and it is naturally seen as the first bank-operated crypto service in Belgium operating under MiCA regulation. On the surface, investors gain "bank-grade" custody, security, and compliance endorsement, but under the execution-only model, closed-loop operations, and multiple risk warnings, crypto assets are placed within a high-walled "secure garden," where the sense of security represented by banks collides with the freedom and openness long championed by the crypto world.
The Crypto Debut of Belgium's Second-Largest Bank
As Belgium's second-largest bank, KBC Group is deeply rooted in the local retail and private client market, and the online investment platform Bolero serves as a one-stop entry for these types of investors to access traditional securities, funds, and other products. When BTC and ETH are included in Bolero, it targets mainstream investors who are accustomed to allocating assets through banks or brokerage channels and are highly sensitive to regulation and compliance. According to current disclosures, KBC's target audience includes its retail clients and private investors, who can directly buy and sell BTC/ETH through the Bolero platform, with transactions still being conducted on individual investor accounts rather than institutional accounts, indicating a clear focus on personal investment scenarios.
This service plan is set to officially launch in the week of February 16, 2026, but the specific day within that week will depend on the progress of regulatory procedures and subsequent official disclosures; KBC has only provided the time anchor of "that week" for now. Even so, the combination of time and identity is sufficient to mark it as a milestone in local regulatory history: it is among the first to complete compliance preparations after MiCA takes effect and to launch crypto asset trading services as a bank, making KBC the first bank-operated crypto platform in Belgium under the MiCA regulatory framework. This means that from product definition to operational processes, everything must comply with EU unified standards, rather than the previously fragmented local experiments.
Compliance Label: From MiCA to C…
At the EU level, MiCA sets unified rules for institutions providing crypto asset services. If banks want to engage in related businesses under this framework, they must meet a complete set of basic conditions, including capital requirements, governance structures, risk management, and investor protection. For banks, although they are already under strict regulation, once they engage in BTC/ETH trading, they must overlay the behavioral norms defined by MiCA on top of existing prudential regulations, ensuring that everything from information disclosure to operational risk control covers this new category of crypto assets. As a bank-type service provider, KBC must submit a complete CASP notification to the competent authorities to legally provide crypto asset services under MiCA. This is not just a filing action but a process to systematically demonstrate its business model, technical architecture, custody processes, and risk control plans to regulators.
Because of this preliminary process, KBC's crypto business is viewed as a standardized model from a regulatory perspective: from how to define service boundaries, how to design investor suitability tests, to how to organize custody and transaction record retention, regulators can find extendable reference templates within this project. For traditional funds, this bank-operated layout completed under MiCA rules equates to obtaining institutional endorsement—not simply "banks also offer BTC/ETH," but "within the EU's unified regulatory framework, banks can provide BTC/ETH in a compliant manner." The predictability and replicability of the system open a certified entry point for those who were previously hesitant due to regulatory uncertainties.
Closed-Loop Trading and Bank Custody: Security
KBC adopts an execution-only model, meaning the bank is only responsible for executing customer transaction instructions, completing the matching and recording of BTC/ETH buy or sell orders, and will not provide any form of investment advice or active management to customers. Within this boundary, crypto assets are strictly classified as investments that customers bear the risk for, with the bank's role being that of a provider of technical and compliance channels, rather than an investment advisor telling customers whether they should buy. Compared to traditional wealth management or asset allocation advice, this model clearly delineates responsibilities and highlights the bank's cautious attitude towards related risks.
Accompanying the execution-only model is a closed-loop operational model. In this design, funds flow from the customer's bank account to the internal Bolero platform, exchanging for BTC/ETH positions recorded within the KBC system, while the assets themselves do not freely flow to on-chain addresses or external trading platforms. Funds and assets circulate within KBC's closed-loop system, significantly enhancing operational security: the bank can fully record and monitor all sources of funds, transaction paths, and position changes, making technical and compliance risks easier to control. However, this also means that the "portability" of crypto assets is greatly weakened, as users cannot freely transfer assets out like they would in a native wallet, participate in on-chain applications, or circulate across platforms.
In terms of custody, KBC provides bank-grade custody services. For many potential investors who previously feared "losing private keys" or "irreversible transactions," having assets held by the bank in a unified system can significantly change their perception of crypto custody risks. Users no longer need to understand mnemonic phrases or hardware wallet management, nor worry about irreversible losses due to operational errors; crypto assets resemble a special type of security or asset class stored in a bank vault. At the same time, this convenience and regulatory protection come at the cost of sacrificing the "self-custody freedom" emphasized by the native crypto world. The fundamental notion of self-custody advocates that "assets truly belong to oneself," while bank custody asserts that "assets are safer under institutional protection." The trade-offs between the two will become particularly prominent in such closed-loop services.
Knowledge Testing and Risk Warnings: The Bank
To comply with investor protection requirements under MiCA, KBC has set up a knowledge and experience test before launching BTC/ETH trading, categorizing investors into different levels such as A/B/C. Based on the test results, the bank can assess the customer's understanding of crypto assets, past risk investment experience, and risk tolerance, and then determine whether they can participate in BTC/ETH trading, and in what manner and scope. For customers with limited experience or a clear lack of understanding of related concepts, the test results may become a key threshold limiting their access to such products; while for knowledgeable investors with a higher risk appetite, the test serves more as a compliance-required "entry exam."
The existence of this grading mechanism leads different types of investors to follow distinctly different paths when engaging with BTC/ETH. Some may be explicitly informed of the risks and incompatibility after completing the test, guiding them away from this asset class; others, after passing the test, are allowed to trade on the platform but are simultaneously given clear risk warnings and responsibility boundaries. KBC's official warning phrase, "Virtual currency, real risks," straightforwardly indicates the bank's positioning of crypto assets—regardless of how cutting-edge the technical narrative may be, it remains a highly volatile investment that can lead to significant losses. Within a complete compliance framework, institutions repeatedly emphasize high risks, creating a regulatory "firewall" that reminds users not to misinterpret crypto assets as capital-preserving or stable products. At the same time, through the combination of testing and warnings, user behavior is subtly guided, encouraging more people to view BTC/ETH only within the psychological framework of "affordable losses."
A New Face of Crypto Assets Wrapped in Traditional Banking
From the user's perspective, the door opened by KBC first changes the experience of engagement: investors accustomed to logging into online banking or Bolero to check stock and fund holdings can now see two additional lines—BTC and ETH—on the familiar interface. Without needing to register a new exchange account or download a wallet application, they can complete orders using their existing bank login, making this "one-click purchase" path lower the technical barrier and allowing crypto assets to be more naturally integrated into daily asset allocation pages. In terms of experience, it is essentially no different from the process of purchasing a highly volatile stock or a specific thematic fund.
This change in channel may subtly reshape the image of crypto assets among mainstream investors in Belgium. When BTC/ETH no longer only appears in professional exchanges or tech circles but is listed alongside blue-chip stocks and index funds in the bank's investment list, its social perception is more likely to shift from "marginal experiment" to "high-risk asset class." However, the inability to freely transfer assets out to on-chain wallets or external platforms under the closed-loop design also means that these investors engaging with crypto assets through bank channels have a clear gap from the "on-chain freedom" understood by crypto purists. For the latter, the inability to hold private keys or freely use assets in DeFi or various on-chain applications equates to losing one of the core meanings of crypto.
In the KBC model, BTC/ETH resembles a type of "high-risk investment product" confined within the banking system, rather than a passport to a parallel financial system. It can appear in asset allocation reports, be included in risk exposure calculations, and be uniformly examined within the regulatory view, but escaping the boundaries of the existing financial system through it is nearly impossible. Crypto assets are repackaged as tools for bearing higher volatility and pursuing excess returns, while their original imaginations about decentralization and autonomous financial order are significantly weakened under the layers of closed-loop systems and bank branding.
The Future of Bank-Operated Crypto Services as a European Model
Overall, KBC's design of crypto service models under the MiCA framework has several key features that stand out: first, a strict compliance path starting with CASP notification, clearly placing BTC/ETH within the EU's unified regulatory framework; second, a risk control mechanism combining execution-only and knowledge testing, clearly delineating responsibility boundaries and investor suitability by not providing investment advice and implementing A/B/C grading; third, closed-loop trading and bank-grade custody, locking technical and compliance risks within the institutional system while sacrificing self-custody and on-chain freedom in exchange for stronger security and regulatory friendliness. These trade-offs collectively shape a "high-risk but manageable" product form, embedding user education and risk warnings throughout the experience.
Against the backdrop of ongoing MiCA advancements, KBC's attempt is expected to become an important reference for other European banks when evaluating and designing their own crypto service architectures: to what extent to adopt closed-loop models, how to balance custody and self-custody, and how to construct a "firewall" through knowledge testing and risk warnings may all be repeatedly explored and transformed based on this model. Regulatory authorities in different jurisdictions can also refine their guiding principles for bank-operated crypto services based on the operational effects of such projects, leaving room for business innovation in the next phase.
From a longer-term perspective, the future of crypto assets is likely to present a pattern of coexistence between open ecosystems and walled gardens. On one end is the native world that insists on self-custody, decentralization, and on-chain freedom, while on the other end is a closed-loop service system dominated by banks and licensed institutions, emphasizing compliance and security. KBC's implementation signifies that the latter is forming a replicable regulatory and business paradigm. What deserves attention next is the further clarification of details in regulation: for example, how to define the boundaries of closed loops, how to assess the effectiveness of knowledge tests, and how to retain a certain degree of asset portability for users without sacrificing core security principles. Within the walls, both the sense of security and the thresholds are raised; outside the walls, freedom and risk continue to intertwine. This tension will long shape the landscape of the European crypto asset market.
Join our community to discuss and become stronger together!
Official Telegram community: https://t.me/aicoincn
AiCoin Chinese Twitter: https://x.com/AiCoinzh
OKX benefits group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=l61eM4owQ
Binance benefits group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=ynr7d1P6Z
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
