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Central Bank of Portugal Grants Country’s First Crypto License to a Bank
Bison Bank was authorized on Thursday to offer crypto custodian and trading services in Portugal.
Updated May 11, 2023, 5:43 p.m. Published Apr 14, 2022, 9:29 p.m.
Bison Bank, a Portugal-based financial institution, has received a license from the Portuguese central bank (Banco de Portugal) to operate as a virtual asset service provider (VASP), Banco de Portugal announced Thursday.
- Bison Bank will create a special business division, Bison Digital Assets, to operate as a virtual asset exchange, according to Portuguese media outlet Sapo.
- The division is the first entity in Portugal owned by a bank to be authorized by Banco de Portugal to offer custodian and crypto trading services.
- Bison Bank provides wealth management, depositary and investment banking services to individuals and institutional clients, according to its website. It is owned by a Hong Kong-based Chinese private capital group.
- In March, Banco do Portugal granted the first full all-categories VASP license to Utrust, a Portugal-based on-chain crypto payments firm.
- In June, it licensed two cryptocurrency exchanges, Criptoloja and Mind The Coin, to operate as VASPs. The bank also granted a crypto exchange license to Luso Digital Assets.
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Tom Lee urges BitMine shareholders to approve share increase ahead of January 14 vote
The chairman of the former bitcoin miner-turned-ether treasury firm reiterated his view that Ethereum is the future of finance.
What to know:
- Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), urged shareholders to approve an increase in the company's authorized share count from 500 million to 50 billion.
- Lee assured shareholders that the increase is not intended to dilute shares, but instead to enable capital raising, dealmaking, and future share splits.
- Shareholders have until January 14 to vote on the proposal, with the annual meeting scheduled for January 15 in Las Vegas.
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