Garanti BBVA Financial Technologies launches new venture for digital assets
Garanti BBVA Financial Technologies, a subsidiary of the Turkish financial services company Garanti BBVA, which itself is majority-owned by the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), is launching its first venture named Garanti BBVA Digital Assets.
Garanti BBVA Financial Technologies forays into digital assets
Marking the subsidiary’s first foray into the digital asset arena, the venture will initially launch with transfer and custody services for cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ether, and has already entered the pilot phase of development.
Suggesting a growing level of interest in digital assets among its customers, Murat Çağrı Süzer, chairman of the board for Garanti BBVA Digital Assets, confirms that a “sizeable team” has been formed to focus on leading the new venture and developing blockchain technologies.
“Our app is now live with its beta version,” continues Çağrı Süzer. “It will provide custody services for BTC and Ether at first, and will keep expanding with new products and services.”
To accompany this offering, the venture is also launching a crypto custody wallet, as according to its research, “customers significantly value trust in their crypto transactions and especially on its storage”.
BBVA has shown continued interested in the digital asset space. Most notably, its private banking arm operating in Switzerland launched a similar crypto trading and custody service in June 2021, while the firm also launched its ‘Blockchain-to-go’ initiative earlier this year to help individuals and companies learn more about blockchain and crypto.
