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French Banking Giant BPCE to Roll Out Crypto Trading for 2M Retail Clients
The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq.
Dec 6, 2025, 6:03 p.m.
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What to know:
- French banking group BPCE will start offering crypto trading services to 2 million retail customers through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps, with plans to expand to 12 million customers by 2026.
- The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq, with a €2.99 monthly fee and 1.5% transaction commission.
- The move follows similar initiatives by other European banks, such as BBVA, Santander, and Raiffeisen Bank, which have already started offering crypto trading services to their customers.
Major French banking group BPCE is set to start offering crypto trading services to retail customers through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps starting Monday.
Customers of four regional banks, including Banque Populaire Île-de-France and Caisse d’Épargne Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, will be able to buy and sell bitcoin , ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and USDC directly through their banking apps, The Big Whale reports.
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The rollout will reach around 2 million customers in the pilot phase, with BPCE planning to expand access to its full 12-million-strong retail base through 2026.
The service operates through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq, BPCE’s crypto-focused subsidiary. Each account comes with a 2.99 euro ($3.48) monthly fee and a 1.5% transaction commission, with a minimum charge of one euro per trade.
A BPCE representative said the phased launch is designed to monitor adoption and system performance before scaling.
Other European banks have already made similar moves. BBVA allows crypto trading directly in its Spanish banking app, while Santander’s Openbank offers access to five crypto assets with integrated custody. On top of tthat, a Vienna-based unit of Raiffeisen Bank partnered with Bitpanda to offer crypto to its customers.
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