CoinDesk
Banca Sella, a private Italian lender with €50 billion ($54 billion) in assets under management and more than 3.1 million customers, has secured a crypto-asset services license from the Bank of Italy under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, becoming the first Italian bank cleared to offer digital-asset services. The lender completed a formal 40-day notification process and plans to roll out a platform for the custody, transfer, and receipt of digital assets to selected corporate clients later in 2026.
The corporate-facing infrastructure was built with blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis and an internal digital-asset pilot originally constructed alongside Fireblocks, replacing an earlier retail-crypto route through its mobile-banking venture Hype. "Being approved as a crypto-asset services provider will enable Banca Sella to launch in 2026 a solution dedicated to the custody, transfer and receipt of digital assets aimed at selected categories of customers," the bank said.
Why it matters
Sella joins roughly 20 major European banks already offering crypto services under MiCA, including Germany's Commerzbank and LBBW, France's Société Générale FORGE, and Spain's BBVA. Its arrival closes a notable gap: Italy, one of the eurozone's largest economies, had been a holdout in the bloc's institutional crypto ramp. The Bank of Italy's sign-off via MiCA's notification pathway — rather than a heavier bespoke authorization — signals that the European supervisor is comfortable with mainstream banks attaching crypto services to standard banking licenses.
Market impact
Sella is also a founding member of Qivalis, a consortium of 37 European banks aiming to issue a euro-denominated stablecoin this year, and is participating in EU tokenization projects Pontes and Appia aimed at bolstering the bloc's financial autonomy. "The evolution of payments toward instant, interoperable, and programmable models — also driven by the tokenization of currencies and assets — is redefining financial infrastructures at European and global level," said Andrea Tessera, the bank's managing director of digital banking.
Frequently asked questions
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What did Banca Sella actually get approved for?
The Bank of Italy cleared Banca Sella as a crypto-asset services provider under MiCA after a 40-day notification process, allowing the private lender to launch a platform for the custody, transfer, and receipt of digital assets to selected corporate clients later in 2026.
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Why is this notable for Italy specifically?
Italy had been one of the largest holdouts among major eurozone economies for institutional crypto services. Sella's sign-off makes it the first Italian bank cleared to offer such services under MiCA, joining roughly 20 other major European lenders already live with similar offerings.
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How big is Banca Sella?
Banca Sella is a private Italian lender with €50 billion ($54 billion) in assets under management and more than 3.1 million customers, positioning it as a meaningful entrant into the European digital-asset banking space.
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What is the Qivalis stablecoin initiative?
Qivalis is a consortium of 37 European banks aiming to issue a euro-denominated stablecoin this year. Banca Sella is among the founding members, alongside its involvement in EU tokenization projects Pontes and Appia aimed at strengthening the bloc's financial autonomy.
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Who built the technology infrastructure for Sella's crypto platform?
The corporate-facing platform was built with blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis for compliance and an internal digital-asset pilot originally constructed alongside Fireblocks, replacing an earlier retail-crypto route through Sella's Hype mobile-banking venture.
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