Spanish institutional custodian Cecabank is moving to extend its regulated crypto asset custody services into Luxembourg, roughly 18 months after opening a branch in the Grand Duchy.

The bank reportedly became the first Spanish business-to-business (B2B) custodian to secure a license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework in 2025, and its commercial crypto custody service went live in May 2026. MiCA sets a common regulatory framework for crypto asset issuers and service providers across the European Union, but a license under it does not automatically apply across borders. To bridge that gap, Cecabank has initiated the European passporting process — the EU mechanism that allows a firm authorized in one member state to offer covered services in others without applying for a separate license in each — to extend its regulatory coverage to Luxembourg, Ireland and Portugal.

Building a Bridge to Tokenized Finance

"At Cecabank, we are building a bridge between traditional financial infrastructure and the emerging tokenized economy," CEO Ainhoa Jáuregui said, adding that institutional clients will gain access to digital currencies, stablecoins and tokenized assets under the same security and compliance standards applied to traditional instruments.

Cecabank operates as a B2B infrastructure provider, enabling client banks and financial institutions to hold crypto assets, execute orders and carry out transfers without having to build their own proprietary technology stacks.

Dual Infrastructure Strategy

The bank's strategy rests on two complementary infrastructures. The first is a pan-European, Luxembourg-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) network designed for regulated institutions to register and trade tokenized assets — traditional financial instruments represented as digital tokens on shared ledgers. Cecabank is a founding member and the first Spanish institution to join.

The second is a banking consortium of 37 financial institutions developing a 1:1 euro-backed stablecoin for on-chain payments and settlement. Under MiCA, tokens pegged one-to-one to a single fiat currency are treated as electronic money, a category subject to dedicated authorization requirements. The project is awaiting electronic money institution authorization from the Dutch central bank, with a commercial launch planned for the second half of 2026.

Cecabank also participated in Spain's first interbank trial of tokenized deposits in July 2026, which tested mechanisms to automate asset settlement while retaining claims directly on the bank's balance sheet.

Deepening the Luxembourg Footprint

"Eighteen months after our branch opened, we can say with confidence that it was the right decision," said Brenda Bol, Cecabank's country head in Luxembourg, per the Delano report. Luxembourg ranks among the EU's leading financial centers, with a banking sector geared toward cross-border business.

With a seat on the board of the Luxembourg Bankers' Association (ABBL), Cecabank's next operational priority is finalizing its MiCA passporting process to deliver live digital asset services to local institutions — with the timing dependent on sign-off for the filings covering Luxembourg, Ireland Portugal.