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Belgium's largest bank-insurance group has entered regulated crypto trading. KBC announced on March 10 that it has selected Swiss digital asset infrastructure firm Taurus as its custody partner, completing the technical foundation for a crypto offering it began rolling out to retail clients in February.
The service runs through Bolero, KBC's self-directed investment platform. Private investors in Belgium gained the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether there from the week of February 16. No Belgian bank had previously offered crypto trading inside a fully regulated banking framework. KBC is now the first.
The custody arrangement sits at the centre of how the product works. KBC is using Taurus-PROTECT, an institutional custody platform built specifically for regulated financial institutions, to safeguard client assets. The setup operates as a closed system. Crypto bought and sold via Bolero stays within the platform. Clients never manage private keys or interact with external exchanges. KBC retains full oversight of every transaction.
That structure is a deliberate response to the risks that have made traditional banks reluctant to touch crypto. Operational exposure, fraud risk and security vulnerabilities all shrink when the asset never leaves the bank's controlled environment. The Taurus platform connects directly into KBC's existing compliance, risk management and operational infrastructure rather than running as a separate layer.
The offering operates on an execution-only basis, meaning clients make their own decisions without advice from KBC. Both Bitcoin and Ether are available at launch. All activity runs under the European MiCAR regulatory framework and is accompanied by mandatory risk disclosures and investor education materials.
Taurus was founded in Geneva in 2018 and operates from 13 offices globally. The firm is regulated by FINMA, Switzerland's financial markets supervisor, and positions itself as infrastructure for banks and financial institutions rather than retail crypto users. KBC joins a client base that Taurus describes as focused on institutional-grade requirements.
KBC Group operates across Belgium, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, employs around 40,000 staff and serves approximately 13 million clients across its core markets. It is listed on Euronext Brussels.
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