UniCredit is exploring an growth into digital property that will add crypto custody and brokerage, and has began choosing a expertise supplier to carry the property and deal with shopper transactions, Bloomberg reported, citing individuals conversant in the matter.
As per the report, the discussions are early, and no ultimate choice has been made. Areas into consideration embody 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 might select one.
Any crypto providers would fall beneath the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Belongings 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 Financial Space.
Constructing on Earlier Crypto Strikes
Deciding on an outdoor expertise supplier is the trail different massive banks have taken into crypto custody. Deutsche Financial institution tapped Swiss agency Taurus for digital asset custody and tokenization after what the seller known as an in depth 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 Belief (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 type 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 problem for E4 Pc Engineering recorded on Polygon.
UniCredit additionally belongs to Qivalis, an Amsterdam consortium that has grown to 37 European banks throughout 15 nations 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 Belongings
Different massive lenders have already began promoting crypto to shoppers. BBVA started providing Bitcoin (BTC) buying and selling and custody to personal banking shoppers in Switzerland, and Israel’s Financial institution Leumi lined up Galaxy to run buying and selling and custody for a 2027 launch protecting 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 Commerce, 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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