$87 Billion Italian Bank To Allow Bitcoin Purchases Early This Year

Banca Generali – an Italian Bank geared towards private banking and wealth management – plans to launch Bitcoin trading services in early 2022. These services will be enabled through an integration with Conio – a Bitcoin wallet/ exchange app.

Bitcoin in Italy

Financial magazine “We Wealth” provided details on the bank’s new services last month. Apparently, Banca’s 300 000 customers will be able to create a Bitcoin wallet directly from their bank accounts, thanks to Conio. The former has already invested millions of dollars in Conio, which shares locations in both San Francisco and Italy.

Both companies initiated their partnership in December of 2020, originally planning to launch services in 2021. However, Riccardo Renna – Chief Operation Officer at Banca – is confident that the project will launch early this year.

“From that moment on, customers will be able to operate safely on an asset class that could otherwise be risky if approached incorrectly,” he said.

The new services provide the advantage of buying Bitcoin simply by funding one’s debit or credit accounts, rather than using a third-party payment provider. It also features a unique multi-sig wallet solution for increased security, and to ensure wallet recoveries are possible in case of succession.

“We know that the future structure of the financial markets will certainly be influenced by the blockchain technology that continues to make its way,” said Renna. “We are working with Conio at various tables to study possible adaptations of the blockchain to our processes and systems “.

Banks Adopting Bitcoin Services

Numerous major banks have announced plans to adopt similar Bitcoin wallet services in recent weeks. Most notable among these was the German Savings Bank Association (aka Sparkasse), a network of 400 banks across the country. Their services alone could give easy-access crypto services to over 50 million people.

Shortly afterward, two other major German banks announced crypto-wallet integration plans, including Commerzbank and Volks- und Raiffeisenbank. Most recently, a New Jersey-based retail bank partnered with Bakkt – a cryptocurrency custody provider – to start allowing clients to trade crypto.