KBC plans to open regulated retail trading of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on its Bolero platform during the week of February 16, 2026, positioning itself as the first Belgian bank to offer bank-run retail crypto trading under MiCA. The launch places crypto access inside a banking wrapper, with custody and execution handled in-house rather than through external wallet rails.
The strategic intent is straightforward: KBC is prioritising AML controls and investor protection over wallet interoperability and self-custody flexibility. In practice, that means mainstream clients get a familiar brokerage experience, while the bank retains end-to-end control over custody, monitoring, and risk gating.
How KBC plans to operate under MiCA
KBC said it has submitted a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) notification to Belgian authorities and expects the rollout to function within MiCA’s transitional arrangements while formal licences remain pending. The text also notes that, as of January 16, 2026, Belgian authorities had not yet issued formal MiCA licences, making the notification a key procedural step in signaling operational readiness.
A defining feature of the product is its custody architecture. KBC will custody BTC and ETH centrally and run a closed-loop model on Bolero that prevents transfers to third-party wallets. That design reduces exposure tied to external transfers and simplifies provenance and monitoring workflows, but it also removes external settlement options that more advanced users often expect.
KBC is pairing the custody-first model with explicit retail guardrails. The platform will require mandatory risk-assessment testing and keep assets under full bank custody as part of its investor-protection posture. The trade-off is clear: fewer degrees of freedom for clients, in exchange for tighter traceability and bank-grade operational controls.
What this could mean for banks and retail adoption
Relative to typical exchange models, KBC’s implementation shifts the value proposition from interoperability to regulated convenience inside an EU banking perimeter. By integrating trading and custody in one channel, the bank reduces settlement complexity for the client experience and anchors compliance responsibilities within its existing risk framework.
From a market-infrastructure lens, the closed-loop design has second-order effects. It limits the on-chain activity directly attributable to Bolero clients, reducing external observability while simplifying internal KYC/AML reconciliation. That doesn’t change base-layer throughput or finality, but it does channel retail demand through a centralized counterparty governed by bank controls.
The February launch will function as a real-world adoption test. If meaningful retail volumes materialize without regulatory friction, other European banks may replicate the custody-first blueprint; if demand is muted, transfer restrictions will look like a material commercial constraint. Separately, KBC’s broader strategy includes collaboration with eight European banks—including ING and UniCredit—to issue a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026, reinforcing the bank-led, compliance-forward direction described in the text.