France’s BPCE to Roll Out Crypto Trading to Millions of Retail Customers

France’s second-largest banking group will roll out crypto trading today via two of its banking apps, giving around 2 million customers the chance to invest in digital assets. 

As reported by onchain finance news outlet The Big Whale, Group BPCE (Banque Populaire – Caisse d’Épargne) will initially make crypto purchases possible for a small fraction of its 12 million-strong customer base, with plans for expansion across all of its banking entities in 2026.

“The goal is to monitor how the service performs at launch,” a bank insider told The Big Whale.

No official press release confirming the news had been shared on Group BPCE’s website at the time of writing.

Starting Monday, customers of four of BPCE’s 29 retail banks will be able to sign up for a crypto trading account via their banking app. Available assets at launch include BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC, with additional coins expected to be added.

Related: BlackRock’s Fink and Coinbase’s Armstrong Signal a New Era as Global Banks Pilot Crypto

The trading account functionality is provided and managed via the banking group’s subsidiary, Hexarq — a crypto-asset wallet and service provider founded in 2024 and approved by France’s financial markets regulator.

It’s not cheap. The service requires a €2.99 (AU$5.24) monthly subscription cost, and hefty transaction fees of 1.5%.

Mixed Reactions to BPCE’s Move Into Crypto Trading

A number of TradFi institutions in Europe have acted in recent months to deliver crypto trading to their customers. Digital bank Openbank started allowing its customers in Germany and Spain to trade five leading cryptos in September, and Spanish bank BBVA opened the door for its customers to buy and sell BTC and ETH in October 2025.

Related: BBVA Launches 24/7 Bitcoin and Ether Trading for All Spanish Customers

Editor-in-Chief of The Big Whale, Raphaël Bloch, said that while European banks may be moving slowly on digital assets, they are moving — as evidenced by BPCE’s approach. He said trading crypto raised many questions for a traditional bank, such as who to partner with and how to ensure secure custody.

After speaking with many banking executives, one thing is obvious: every institution in the world faces the same challenges. None of this is simple. Yet the momentum is real.

Raphaël Bloch, The Big Whale

Various X users described the news as bullish and good for adoption, but also bad due to the lack of self-custody and concerning because increased competition could squeeze out smaller French exchanges and financial platforms.

In response to the news, CEO of French crypto exchange and staking platform Meria Finance, Owen Simonin, posted on X that BPCE was one of several banks that closed his business accounts just years prior. “The world is changing,” Simonin said.

French creative director of Deblock app, a self-custody crypto wallet, asked “But WHO’s going to put their crypto in a traditional bank like that?”

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