Key Takeaways:
- Banco Santander, Europe’s 5th largest bank with assets over €1.5tn could soon offer a Bitcoin ETF
- “We are a leader in crypto,” says Ana Botin, President of Banco Santander
Spain’s Banco Santander Prepares to Launch a Bitcoin ETF
After the arrival of Bitcoin ETFs on Wall Street, the cryptocurrency market continues to expand. A recent example of this is the decision by Banco Santander to consider offering its own Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
With this in mind, Banco Santander, headed by President Ana Botin, is reportedly waiting for an approval of its first Bitcoin-linked product.
“We are a leader in crypto. We have a strong team working on it,” Ms. Botin said in a statement to Bloomberg. “Our clients want to buy bitcoin, but we have been quite slow to adopt it due to regulatory issues.”
Furthermore, Banco Santander President said the bank is now “about to offer cryptocurrency ETFs,” local news media reported.
Banco Santander is Europe’s 5th Biggest Bank
In more detail, Banco Santander is one of the top banks in Europe. It is ranked fifth in Europe by asset under management with a staggering €1.5 trillion in assets. It is also the biggest bank in Spain.
That said, the step toward embracing crypto assets and Bitcoin, in particular, highlights the growing interest from big institutions.
However, Spain is yet to welcome its first bitcoin-focused exchange-traded fund. To this end, Banco Santander would need to wait and see if regulators will give the green light.
If approved, the Bitcoin ETF provided by Banco Santander would allow millions of investors to have exposure to bitcoin’s price.
Against this backdrop, the regulatory climate in Spain, and Europe broadly, is beginning to warm up. Investors, on the other hand, are clamouring for bitcoin products. Following the sweeping success of the first Bitcoin ETF on the US stock market, money managers are looking to increase their exposure to cryptocurrencies.