Danske Bank, the most important financial institution in Denmark and a significant retail financial institution in Northern Europe with over 5 million clients, is permitting purchasers to purchase Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded merchandise (ETPs) from BlackRock and WisdomTree by way of its eBanking and Cell Banking platforms for the primary time.
The brand new providing, announced Wednesday, is open to self-directed buyers solely — clients who commerce on the financial institution’s platform with out receiving funding recommendation — and is explicitly framed as a response to “growing buyer demand” and “improved regulation” within the wake of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regime.
The financial institution stated clients can initially purchase three “rigorously chosen” ETPs, two monitoring Bitcoin (BTC) and one monitoring Ether (ETH), supplied by BlackRock and WisdomTree and coated by Markets in Monetary Devices Directive II (MiFID) guidelines on investor safety and value transparency, which the financial institution says present clear benefits over holding cash immediately, together with ease of buying and selling and safe custody.
Kerstin Lysholm, head of funding merchandise and choices at Danske Bank, stated within the launch that, as cryptocurrencies have develop into extra widespread as an asset class, the financial institution was receiving an “growing variety of enquiries from clients wanting the choice of investing in cryptocurrencies as a part of their funding portfolio.”
She added that regulation had “usually elevated confidence in cryptocurrencies” and led the financial institution to conclude “the time is ripe” to make such merchandise obtainable to purchasers who settle for the “very excessive dangers” concerned.
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From platform ban to tightly managed entry
The shift comes after years of warning towards digital property. In 2018, Danske Bank said it was destructive towards cryptocurrencies and barred buying and selling in them and associated devices by itself platforms, warning clients in opposition to investing due to transparency, regulatory, volatility and monetary crime issues.
In 2021, Danske up to date its coverage in a four-point discover, stating that it wouldn’t offer any cryptocurrency services to its clients itself, however that it might not intervene with transactions coming from crypto platforms.
Lysholm stated Danske nonetheless considered crypto as “opportunistic investments” fairly than a part of a long-term portfolio technique, and stated that entry to ETPs “shouldn’t be seen as a suggestion of the asset class.”
The discharge says that cryptocurrency investments “contain a really excessive danger” and may end up in giant losses, and it’s constructing a suitability examine into the circulation. Earlier than buying and selling, clients should reply questions to guarantee they’ve enough expertise and data to perceive the dangers and traits of crypto ETPs.
Broader European development
Different European lenders are additionally edging into regulated crypto choices.
BBVA, Spain’s second-largest financial institution, launched Bitcoin and Ether trading and custody for all retail clients in Spain in 2025, after piloting comparable companies for personal banking purchasers in Switzerland.
Germany’s Deutsche Bank can be reportedly preparing to roll out a crypto custody service in 2026 in collaboration with Bitpanda and Swiss digital asset firm Taurus.
Journal: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
