French Banking Giant BPCE to Offer Crypto Trading to 2 Million Retail Clients
BPCE is set to provide crypto trading services to approximately 2 million retail customers through the Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Épargne mobile apps. The initiative, which begins with a phased rollout on Monday, aims to reach up to 12 million clients by 2026.
Customers will have access to trading major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and the stablecoin USDC. These assets will be available via a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq, BPCE's crypto-focused subsidiary.
The digital asset account carries a monthly fee of €2.99 and imposes a 1.5% transaction commission with a minimum fee of €1 per trade. The phased rollout allows BPCE to monitor adoption rates and system performance before expanding the service to the full client base.
Four regional banks are involved in the initial launch, including Banque Populaire Île-de-France and Caisse d'Épargne Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
This move follows similar crypto trading initiatives seen in other European banks, such as BBVA, Santander, and Raiffeisen Bank’s Vienna unit, the latter having partnered with Bitpanda. The story was published by CoinDesk on December 6, 2025.
