Italy's Second Largest Bank Evaluates Offering Services with Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

• The bank is part of a consortium of 37 banks to launch a stablecoin in euros by the end of 2026.
• It has already issued the first tokenized minibond and a product linked to a Bitcoin ETF.

UniCredit SpA, the second largest banking entity in Italy with a presence in 13 countries, has taken a decisive step to bring operations with Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies to its network of traditional clients.

The bank is seeking a specialized technology partner to build its own custody and brokerage infrastructure, which would allow it to directly facilitate the buying, selling, and safekeeping of digital assets.

According to sources close to the process cited by Bloomberg on September 11, 2026, discussions are in a preliminary phase and the Milan-based firm has not made a final decision on the provider or the final scale of the project. A spokesperson for UniCredit declined to comment on these negotiations.

If realized, the initiative would represent a strategic shift for an institution that has historically maintained a conservative stance. Until now, UniCredit had limited its exposure to the sector through indirect or structured instruments for corporate and wealth management clients.

In July 2025, it launched a certificate linked to BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), and later issued a tokenized minibond on the public Polygon network, in addition to acquiring stakes in the tokenization platforms BlockInvest and VC Trade.

It remains to be seen whether the service will include real on-chain deposits and withdrawals. The opposite would be a <>, a closed model where the client trades with the asset's price but never takes possession of their Bitcoin.

MiCA Opens the Door, but the Risk Committee Calls for Caution

UniCredit's move is leveraged by the MiCA regulation, the European framework that cleared the legal ground for traditional banking to operate with licenses. While competitors like BBVA or Santander (via Openbank) already allow Bitcoin trading in Spain and Deutsche Bank prepares its custody with Bitpanda, the Italian firm seeks to accelerate its pace to avoid falling behind in the regional race.

However, the commercial ambition of the innovation desk strongly contrasts with the caution of the control departments. In May 2026, Elena Carletti, vice president of UniCredit's risk committee, publicly warned about the liquidity vulnerabilities that banking entities could face during episodes of stress in deposits linked to digital assets. Elena Carletti, vice president of the board of directors and chair of the Risk Committee of UniCredit, during a public intervention. Source: YouTube / FIE25.

The executive cited risks arising from past events in the industry, such as the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) crisis and the temporary decoupling of the USDC stablecoin in 2023, where deposit runs demonstrated the impact of the speed of digital capital flow on traditional banking balances.

The eventual treasury and custody desk of UniCredit seeks to connect directly with its bet on digital payments, such as the Qivalis consortium, as previously reported by CriptoNoticias.

UniCredit is a founding member of this alliance of 37 European financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, ING, CaixaBank, and Intesa Sanpaolo, to issue a regulated stablecoin backed 1:1 by euros.

The consortium has chosen Fireblocks to manage the issuance infrastructure and wallets, projecting its market launch for the second half of 2026, pending the license from the monetary authority of the Netherlands.

With this deployment, UniCredit aims not only to compete in the brokerage market but also to establish its own settlement infrastructure that reduces its dependence on external platforms within the eurozone.