Why This Turkish Bank Thinks Ripple is the Next Best Thing Since Sliced Bread!

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Well, well, well! It seems that Garanti BBVA Kripto, the digital asset darling of Turkey’s second-largest private bank (because who needs first place, right?), has decided to keep the Ripple party going. Yes, folks, they’re extending their custody partnership like it’s a never-ending Netflix series.

According to Ripple’s Managing Director, Reece Merrick (who probably deserves an award for his optimistic outlook), Garanti BBVA will continue to use Ripple’s super-duper institutional-grade custody technology to keep their important assets safe and sound. You know, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP-basically the holy trinity of digital currency.

From Pilot to Mass Scale

Now, hold on to your hats because Garanti BBVA Kripto kicked things off with a modest 14,000 early adopters back in late 2024. Just a casual launch, no biggie.

“This renewal is a massive vote of confidence in our joint vision for secure, compliant digital asset infrastructure,” Merrick proclaimed, likely while standing on a metaphorical soapbox.

As for Ripple, this deal is like icing on the cake after their triumphant acquisition of custody firm Metaco in 2023. Who knew combining custody software with IBM’s LinuxONE hardware could lead to such success? It’s like pairing peanut butter with chocolate-unexpected yet delightful!

A Long-Lasting Partnership

The relationship between Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and Ripple is practically ancient in tech years-spanning nearly a decade, which is basically forever. They’ve been testing Ripple’s tech since 2017, making BBVA the overachiever in the European banking scene by completing a real-money international transfer using Ripple’s distributed ledger technology (DLT). Gold star for them!

Fast forward to June 2021, when BBVA Switzerland launched a Bitcoin trading and custody service for private banking clients. Because why not? It’s not like we have a global pandemic to worry about or anything.

Oh, and let’s not forget the momentous choice of Metaco as their custody provider for the “Harmonize” orchestration platform. It was a match made in crypto-heaven. Little did they know that Metaco would eventually become the “custody arm” of Ripple-talk about plot twists!

In 2023, Garanti BBVA decided to join the digital asset fray by launching its own subsidiary, Garanti BBVA Kripto, because who wouldn’t want to dive into the high-inflation Turkish market where crypto adoption is skyrocketing? Sounds like a fun rollercoaster ride!

By October 2024, Garanti BBVA formalized a three-way partnership with Ripple and IBM, securing the whole shebang inside IBM’s super-secure LinuxONE servers. Because why not keep all those precious coins under lock and key?

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, by September 2025, this partnership went global! Ripple announced that BBVA Spain would also integrate Ripple Custody. It’s like a world tour, but for banking technology!

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2026-01-23 09:05