Turkish Banking Giant Garanti BBVA Deepens Ties With Ripple
Garanti BBVA, one of the largest private banks in Turkey, is strengthening its ties with Ripple, a major leader in the crypto space. The bank has reportedly renewed its custody agreement with Ripple through its crypto arm, Garanti BBVA Kripto. This indicates that the institutional demand for secure crypto services continues to rise.
This strategic move comes amid BBVA Kripto’s intention to expand its business from its early phase. The bank envisions broadening its reach from a limited group of users to a larger market. With the help of Ripple, the financial giant is positioning itself for long-term growth, relying on the custody services of the blockchain platform.
BBVA and Ripple Scale Institutional Crypto Custody
Garanti BBVA Krypto, the crypto subsidiary of the Turkish banking giant, has renewed its custody partnership with Ripple. In a Twitter post today, Ripple Managing Director Reece Merrick stated that the bank will continue using Ripple’s institutional-grade custody platform. Via this strategic alliance, the bank intends to securely store major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The X thread read,
“Our Turkish partner Garanti BBVA Krypto, crypto subsidiary of Garanti BBVA, is extending its custody relationship with Ripple. They’ll continue to leverage our custody technology to offer their millions of retail customers secure transfers and storage for major crypto assets like XRP, BTC & ETH.”
This development comes hot on the heels of Ripple’s expansion in the European Union. As CoinNewsSpan reported recently, Ripple acquired a preliminary approval for its EMI license from Luxembourg.
Unveiling a Long-Running Partnership Saga
Significantly, the partnership between BBVA and Ripple is one of the longest-standing collaborations in the blockchain space. The alliance could be traced back nearly a decade. Over the years, this partnership has evolved significantly through pilot programs, strategic investments, and full-scale commercial launches.
In 2017, the bank initially tested Ripple’s technology, becoming the first Tier-1 European bank to carry out a real-money international transfer using Ripple’s distributed ledger. This alliance continued to grow, with the bank exploring major crypto-related areas with the help of Ripple. In 2021, BBVA Switzerland launched a Bitcoin trading and custody service for its private banking clients. This development has further bolstered the bank’s position in the blockchain space.
Ripple’s Metaco Aids BBVA’s Custody Strategy
It is worth noting that this renewed deal is built on Ripple’s acquisition of the Swiss custody firm Metaco in 2023. As Ripple acquired Metaca, Ripple strengthened its role in crypto custody. This has attracted many banks, as crypto custody is a major service that the financial space increasingly looks for. Many banking giants like SBI Holdings, Santander, PNC Bank, and Standard Chartered have already collaborated with Brad Garlinghouse’s crypto company.
The BBVA bank had already selected Metaco to develop its “Harmonize” orchestration platform, long before the Swiss custody platform was acquired by Ripple. In October 2024, the firm announced a three-way partnership with Ripple and IBM. The bank also adopted the blockchain firm’s Metaco. Soon, this partnership expanded beyond Turkey. BBVA Spain, the parent company of the bank, also embraced Ripple Custody.
Garanti BBVA’s decision to pair Ripple’s custody software with IBM’s LinuxONE hardware security modules shows a clear focus on top-tier security and regulatory compliance. The bank’s entry into the crypto space highlights its interest in innovative solutions. In 2023, the bank launched its crypto arm, Garanti BBVA Krypto, when many Wall Street giants turned away from cryptocurrencies.
