Bison Bank secures Portugal’s first full MiCA crypto license

Bison Bank just became the first bank in Portugal authorized to operate directly as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider under MiCA, the EU’s comprehensive crypto regulatory framework. The authorization, granted on June 22, makes the Lisbon-based institution a genuine rarity: one of approximately 30 banks across the entire European Union cleared to offer MiCA-compliant crypto services. From VASP to CASP: the long game Bison Bank didn’t wake up one morning and decide to get into crypto. The groundwork started back in 2022, when its wholly owned subsidiary, Bison Digital Assets (BDA), launched as Portugal’s first bank-owned Virtual Asset Service Provider licensed by the Bank of Portugal. BDA spent the following years building out institutional and high-net-worth client relationships. By 2025, the subsidiary was serving around 275 clients and had facilitated roughly €165 million in trading volume. The new CASP authorization effectively absorbs BDA’s operations into the parent bank. Full integration of the subsidiary is expected by the end of 2026. Instead of running crypto services through a side entity, Bison Bank will offer them directly, the same way it offers conventional banking produ...