Belgian giant KBC taps Taurus to back country’s first regulated Bitcoin, Ether trading

Major Belgian bank-insurer KBC Group has partnered with Swiss fintech company Taurus SA to provide institutional protection services for a new crypto asset offering, it reported in a statement on Tuesday.

The partnership will enable KBC to deploy Taurus-PROTECT, a bank-grade digital asset custody platform, as the basis for regulated crypto trading through Bolero.

The service launched last month and makes KBC the first Belgian bank to offer crypto trading within a fully regulated banking framework.

At launch, retail investors will have access to Bitcoin and Ethereum through execution-only, transactions conducted in compliance with the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) framework.

According to Eric Luce, Chief Innovation Officer at KBC Group, the growing interest in crypto among customers prompted the bank to partner with Taurus. The partnership allows KBC to offer crypto services under the same strict security and regulatory controls that apply to its operating system.

“By working with Taurus, we can offer crypto services backed by bank-level protection, ensuring the same level of security, governance and control that defines our practice across the enterprise. This partnership allows us to provide our clients with a realistic and reliable offering,” said Luts.

KBC has structured its offering around a closed operating model where crypto assets purchased through Bolero remain within the platform rather than being transferred to external wallets or exchanges.

This approach eliminates the need for customers to manage private keys while reducing exposure to manipulation, fraud and security vulnerabilities that have historically plagued retail crypto custody arrangements.

KBC's approach emphasizes the importance of a strong bank-level infrastructure for regulated crypto offerings, said Lamin Brahimi, co-founder and managing partner at Taurus.

“We are proud to support KBC's market-first initiative in Belgium with Taurus-PROTECT, our institutional protection platform specifically for banks,” he said.

The partnership will see the acceleration of institutional crypto adoption in banking across Europe, driven by MCR's impact on competition and regulation.

Traditional lenders that previously avoided digital assets are now under pressure to offer regulated services as customers seek exposure through trusted financial institutions rather than individual crypto exchanges.