Major German bank opens free crypto access as MiCA ends the legality debate and sparks a bank rush
Germany’s ING Deutschland simply made crypto publicity really feel like shopping for an index fund, indicating the path Europe is taking in crypto adoption.
Starting Feb. 2, the bank’s 3.2 million brokerage prospects should purchase crypto exchange-traded notes with zero order charges above €1,000 and arrange computerized financial savings plans.
According to the announcement, there aren’t any alternate signups or pockets administration necessities, simply one other checkbox in the similar app the place they purchase equities.
VanEck is supplying 11 crypto ETNs to the channel, overlaying Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a number of altcoins.
The transfer issues much less as a result of a main bank has determined that crypto is reputable, and extra as a result of it plugs crypto into the distribution infrastructure that already processed 55.2 million securities transactions in 2025.
When the pipes are that huge, even modest adoption percentages translate to billions in routed property.
The surge of curiosity from German banks isn’t pushed by a sudden retail crypto growth. It displays the influence of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, which removes lingering authorized uncertainty and shifts competitors towards distribution, pricing, and consumer expertise.
That’s precisely the place mass-market brokers can overwhelm standalone crypto platforms.
MiCA took full impact on Dec. 30, 2024, with stablecoin and issuer provisions kicking in six months earlier, and the transitional runway for current crypto service suppliers runs by way of July 2026.
That timeline aligns with a wave of retail bank rollouts throughout Spain, Germany, and past, every treating crypto as a product class reasonably than a speculative frontier.
Distribution as technique
ING’s brokerage footprint reveals why the ETN route creates leverage that different channels cannot match. The bank closed 2025 with €134.6 billion in deposit quantity, up 22% year-over-year, and 3.2 million brokerage accounts, up from 2.8 million.
If crypto ETNs seize simply 1% of that deposit quantity, ING would route roughly €1.35 billion into crypto publicity with out requiring prospects to handle non-public keys or navigate alternate KYC.
At 3% penetration, the determine reaches €4 billion, and at 5% it approaches €7 billion.
Those aren’t predictions, however arithmetic that illustrates how behavioral inertia works in the bank’s favor. Customers already belief the interface, already maintain different securities in the similar account, and already perceive how financial savings plans automate accumulation.
Crypto turns into one other asset class toggle reasonably than a separate choice tree.
The regulatory wrapper issues as a result of it permits banks to deal with crypto publicity as every other listed safety for reporting, execution, and tax functions. That reduces operational friction and compliance ambiguity, making it simpler for danger committees to approve product launches.
ING is not making a crypto wager, it is making a distribution wager, and the underlying asset occurs to be crypto-linked.
Europe’s on-chain exercise helps the view that demand exists and is rising, even when it isn’t at all times seen by way of conventional finance channels.
Chainalysis information reveals European transaction volumes recovering to a monthly peak of $234 billion in December after a mid-2024 droop, with main markets processing substantial annual volumes.
Russia processed $376.3 billion, the UK $273.2 billion, Germany $219.4 billion, Ukraine $206.3 billion, and France $180.1 billion for the interval from July 2024 by way of June 2025.
Germany’s volumes grew 54% over that span, a bounce Chainalysis attributes partly to clearer implementation dynamics below MiCA. The regulation did not create demand, but it surely eliminated the uncertainty that was maintaining institutional and retail gamers on the sidelines.
The rollout parade
ING is not pioneering, however reasonably becoming a member of a cohort of European banks that determined 2025 was the yr to normalize crypto access for retail prospects.
Spain’s BBVA launched Bitcoin and Ethereum buying and selling and custody for all retail customers of authorized age on July 4, 2025, making the service obtainable straight by way of its banking app with no advisory overlay.
Customers provoke trades themselves, and the bank handles custody. Openbank, a part of the Santander group, opened spot crypto trading for German prospects on Sept. 16, 2025, providing Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Polygon, and Cardano with a 1.49% buying and selling price and a €1 minimal, with plans to increase to Spain.
CaixaBank launched access to 2 Bitcoin-linked ETPs from Invesco and WisdomTree on Nov. 5, 2025, distributing them by way of its digital banking platform and imagin app to a consumer base the bank pegs at 12 million digital banking prospects.
Each rollout follows a related sample: crypto merchandise get slotted into current digital infrastructure, charges are disclosed upfront, and the bank’s compliance and custody groups deal with the operational complexity.
The buyer expertise feels extra like shopping for a inventory or ETF than opening a Coinbase account, which lowers the barrier to adoption.
That’s the distribution benefit: banks can onboard thousands and thousands of customers who would by no means navigate an alternate independently however will click on a button in an app they already use for invoice funds and mortgage statements.
MiCA’s stablecoin provisions accelerated one other shift that reinforces the regulated-rails thesis.
The European Securities and Markets Authority’s interim register lists 15 e-money token issuers managing 25 single-currency stablecoins, and MiCA compliance stress has successfully excluded Tether’s USDT from EU crypto-asset service-provider contexts.
Circle’s euro-denominated stablecoin, EURC, grew 2,727% between July 2024 and June 2025, per Chainalysis, as compliant issuers crammed the vacuum.
That choice for regulatory alignment is obvious in each institutional and retail conduct, suggesting European customers will gravitate towards merchandise and platforms that function inside the MiCA framework reasonably than problem it.
Flows keep sticky
CoinShares‘ weekly funding product circulate information offers a real-time proxy for demand, and the tape reveals that German flows typically transfer independently of world developments, supporting the view that regulated distribution channels drive stickier adoption.
The week of Jan. 19, 2026, noticed $2.17 billion in global inflows, the largest weekly whole since October 2025, with Germany contributing $63.9 million.
The following week introduced $1.73 billion in outflows, the largest since mid-November, but Germany nonetheless posted $19.1 million in inflows. The week of Jan. 12 noticed $454 million in world outflows, however Germany recorded $58.9 million in inflows.
That sample of constructive or less-negative flows throughout risk-off intervals suggests a totally different investor base than the one driving US ETF volatility. Brokerage-mediated publicity, particularly when packaged as financial savings plans, tends to be stickier as a result of it is typically automated and much less reactive to short-term value swings.
Digital asset funding product property below administration stood at $181.9 billion as of Jan. 9, based on CoinShares, which incorporates each ETFs and ETNs globally.
The weekly circulate swings between multi-billion inflows and outflows illustrate that macro sensitivity stays high. Still, the German influx resilience means that regulated rail adoption may clean a few of that volatility as distribution broadens.
If ING’s launch converts even a fraction of its depot base into recurring crypto consumers by way of financial savings plans, it provides a layer of structural demand that does not rely upon value momentum or influencer narratives.
What’s at stake
The ING rollout and the broader European bank parade aren’t about whether or not crypto is “going mainstream,” since that framing assumes crypto was ever separate from mainstream finance.
The actual query is who controls the on-ramps and whether or not these on-ramps favor self-custody platforms or regulated intermediaries.
MiCA tilts the taking part in discipline towards the latter by making compliance predictable and by giving banks a clear path to supply crypto merchandise with out navigating a patchwork of nationwide guidelines.
That does not kill decentralized exchanges or self-custody wallets, but it surely does imply the default path for many retail customers will run by way of establishments they already bank with.
If ING’s 3.2 million brokerage prospects undertake crypto ETNs at charges similar to these for different asset lessons, the bank may route billions into crypto publicity with minimal advertising spend, since the distribution lever is already in place.
Multiply that throughout BBVA, Openbank, CaixaBank, and the subsequent wave of banks more likely to observe, and Europe’s regulated rails begin to appear to be the highest-volume channel for retail crypto adoption.
This is not as a result of Europeans love crypto greater than Americans do, it is as a result of European regulation made it simpler for banks to function.
The pipes are dwell, the charges are aggressive, and the interface is acquainted. What occurs subsequent relies upon much less on crypto’s narrative and extra on whether or not banks can convert deposit relationships into asset allocation defaults.
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