UniCredit Weighs Crypto Custody and Brokerage, Hunts for a Technology Provider
UniCredit is exploring an enlargement into digital belongings that might add crypto custody and brokerage, and has began choosing a expertise supplier to carry the belongings and deal with consumer transactions, Bloomberg reported, citing folks acquainted with the matter.
As per the report, the discussions are early, and no remaining choice has been made. Areas into consideration embrace custody and brokerage, tokenized funding merchandise and fixed-income securities, and stablecoin purposes for shoppers. UniCredit has not disclosed which suppliers it’s weighing, how a lot it would spend, or when it will select one.
Any crypto providers would fall beneath the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, whose grace interval ended on July 1. MiCA requires crypto-asset service suppliers to carry a license and lets licensed corporations passport custody and buying and selling throughout the 30-country European Economic Area.
Building on Earlier Crypto Moves
Selecting an out of doors expertise supplier is the trail different massive banks have taken into crypto custody. Deutsche Bank tapped Swiss agency Taurus for digital asset custody and tokenization after what the seller referred to as a detailed choice and due diligence course of.
UniCredit has already put crypto merchandise in entrance of shoppers. The financial institution opened a five-year, dollar-denominated certificates linked to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to skilled shoppers in July 2025, with full capital safety at maturity, a cap of 85% on returns and a $25,000 minimal. It was the primary product of its form in Italy.
In December 2025, UniCredit and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti structured Italy’s first tokenized minibond on a public blockchain, a €5 million concern for E4 Computer Engineering recorded on Polygon.
UniCredit additionally belongs to Qivalis, an Amsterdam consortium that has grown to 37 European banks throughout 15 international locations and plans to launch a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin on Ethereum within the second half of 2026. The token could be backed one-for-one by euro deposits, topic to approval from the Dutch central financial institution.
Banks Push Into Digital Assets
Other massive lenders have already began promoting crypto to shoppers. BBVA began providing Bitcoin (BTC) buying and selling and custody to personal banking shoppers in Switzerland, and Israel’s Bank Leumi lined up Galaxy to run buying and selling and custody for a 2027 launch overlaying Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
UniCredit can be increasing in digital markets past crypto. On September 8, it purchased a minority stake in VC Trade, a Frankfurt platform that digitizes bond and mortgage offers. The platform sits in debt markets, separate from the crypto plans, and has dealt with greater than €90 billion throughout over 600 transactions.
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