Belgium’s KBC Bank Rolls Out MiCA-Compliant Bitcoin and Ether Trading With Full Custody - Crypto Economy

2026-01-16 13:46:15

TL;DR

KBC will let retail clients trade Bitcoin and Ether in Bolero from Feb. 16, with coins held in the bank’s custody.
KBC says it filed a crypto asset service provider notification and is aligning the offer with MiCA, pitching a regulated alternative to separate venues.
Belgium made MiCA effective on Jan. 3, 2026, yet ESMA’s register shows no licenses; KBC’s early rollout will test EU debates on passporting and oversight.

Belgium’s KBC is bringing crypto into the core banking stack, saying retail clients will soon be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether inside Bolero, its self-directed investment platform, with assets held in the bank’s own custody. The rollout is slated for Feb. 16, and KBC markets it as a secure, fully regulated experience it calls a first for Belgium. KBC is betting that mainstream adoption follows when crypto looks, feels, and is serviced like banking. For customers, that means one login, one risk perimeter, familiar controls, and a channel built for everyday investors.

MiCA compliance meets Belgium’s late-start launch window

KBC says it has filed a full crypto asset service provider notification and considers the service aligned with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA. Chief innovation officer Erik Luts framed the move as making innovation “concrete and accessible” within a regulated framework. The bank says trading will run on its custodial architecture and will start with Bitcoin and Ether only, keeping scope tight as onboarding scales. It is pitching this inside a regulated environment, not a separate crypto venue. The operating model is compliance-first distribution, designed to convert rule clarity into retail volume.

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The timing is notable because Belgium’s national implementation only recently snapped into place. While MiCA entered into full force across the EU in late 2025, Belgium published its implementing law in December 2025 and made MiCA legally effective on Jan. 3, 2026. The law designates the Financial Services and Markets Authority and the National Bank of Belgium as supervisors for crypto asset markets. For a bank, that translates into governance checklists, custody controls, and disclosures that must map to the new regime. This sequencing matters, because product launches depend on who supervises what, and when.

There is a gap between rulebooks and visible licensing: no MiCA licenses have yet appeared in the register maintained by ESMA. KBC first announced plans to add BTC and ETH trading via Bolero in July 2025, pending regulatory approval expected by year-end, and it has not said which authority it coordinated with ahead of launch. It now positions itself as an early adopter. In an EU debate over passporting and centralized oversight, KBC’s launch will pressure-test how MiCA works in day-to-day banking. France has pushed for stronger ESMA supervision, while Malta has warned about overcentralization.

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