Banca Sella Becomes First Italian Bank Cleared to Offer Crypto Custody Under MiCA
Banca Sella completed its MiCA notification with the Bank of Italy on May 27, 2026, becoming the first Italian bank authorized to offer crypto-asset services. The Biella-based lender plans to launch custody and transfer services for select clients before the end of 2026.
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What Was Approved
Banca Sella completed its notification process with the Bank of Italy on May 27, 2026, making it the first Italian bank authorized to offer crypto-asset services under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The Biella-based bank said it plans to launch custody and transfer services for digital assets before the end of 2026, aimed at select customer categories. Trading services were not part of the announcement.
Because credit institutions can enter certain crypto services through a notification to their national regulator, rather than a full licensing review, the bank filed 40 days in advance as required and cleared the process without that additional review. Its initial offering centers on custody, receipt and transfer of digital assets for corporate and institutional clients. Reporting from Bitcoin Magazine and CoinDesk both describe the approval in these terms, though CoinDesk characterizes the clearance as a green light to serve customers, while the bank's own framing centers on a notification-based entry path.
Years of Groundwork
Banca Sella's position did not come from a single filing. The bank joined the Bank of Italy's Fintech Milano Hub distributed ledger pilot in 2022 and set up a dedicated DLT and Digital Assets team. In July 2025 it ran an internal custody pilot on Fireblocks infrastructure, starting with a small group of employees holding digital assets including stablecoins. That pilot excluded trading. The bank serves about 1.4 million customers holding more than €66 billion in assets under custody, a base executives weighed when deciding whether to extend services.
Banca Sella is also a founding member of Qivalis, a consortium of 37 European banks building a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin. Members named in the reporting include ING, UniCredit, CaixaBank, KBC, Danske Bank, DekaBank, SEB and Raiffeisen Bank International. The consortium is headquartered in Amsterdam, led by former Coinbase Germany CEO Jan-Oliver Sell, and targets a second-half 2026 launch pending an e-money institution license from the Dutch central bank.
Sector Context
Other Italian lenders are moving in parallel. Intesa Sanpaolo, the country's largest bank, opened a spot Bitcoin desk in January 2025 and now holds over €200 million in Bitcoin and other crypto. UniCredit has explored capital-protected notes linked to BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF.
The reporting draws a contrast with the United States, where outside a handful of Wall Street firms, banks still lack a regulatory framework to offer custody, transfer or stablecoin services at scale. The EU currently has 17 authorized electronic money token issuers across 10 countries and 25 regulated stablecoins approved under MiCA.
Bank Statements
Andrea Tessera, Managing Director of Digital Banking at Banca Sella, called the authorization "a major step, in line with the broader European transition towards new digital models." He described payments moving toward "instant, interoperable, and programmable models," a shift he said is reshaping financial infrastructure at European and global levels.
Why It Matters
For Traders
Custody and transfer services launching later in 2026 are unlikely to shift near-term prices, but watch for Italian bank-channel flows as a signal of institutional demand.
For Investors
A first-mover Italian bank under MiCA suggests EU incumbents are building regulated crypto distribution, a structural shift from the U.S. where banks remain largely sidelined.
For Builders
Bank-grade custody on Fireblocks-style infrastructure and MiCA-compliant stablecoin rails like Qivalis create new integration targets for protocols serving regulated EU counterparties.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
