Portugal's first MiCA-licensed bank can offer crypto services across the EU. Its stablecoin launch and plans for tokenized real-world assets target institutional clients waiting for regulatory certainty.
Bison Bank became the first bank in Portugal authorized to offer crypto services directly under MiCA, the EU's sweeping crypto regulation. The license, granted June 22, puts the Lisbon-based institution in a small club – roughly 30 banks across the European Union cleared to operate as Crypto-Asset Service Providers under the single rulebook.
That rulebook has been enforceable since December 2024, with a transitional period for existing providers expiring July 1, 2026. Any crypto firm operating in the EU without proper MiCA authorization is now outside the law.
The authorization replaces a patchwork of national rules with a single license valid across all 27 EU member states through passporting. Bison Bank's CASP license unlocks the entire European Economic Area.
Bison didn't start from scratch. The groundwork began in 2022, when Bison Digital Assets (BDA), a wholly owned subsidiary, launched as Portugal's first bank-owned Virtual Asset Service Provider licensed by the Bank of Portugal. BDA spent the following years building 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 absorbs BDA's operations into the parent bank, with full integration expected by the end of 2026. Instead of running crypto services through a side entity, Bison Bank will offer them directly – custody, exchange, and advisory for crypto assets.
In early May 2026, Bison Bank launched what it calls the Bison Bank Electronic Money Token, Portugal's first bank-issued stablecoin. The product comes in two flavors: EUB, pegged to the euro, and USB, pegged to the US dollar. Both launched on May 6–7, weeks before the CASP license was finalized.
Issuing a stablecoin under MiCA rules requires strict reserve requirements and transparency obligations on electronic money token issuers. Bison, already a bank, sidesteps that particular regulatory hurdle.
Beyond stablecoins, the bank signaled plans to move into tokenization of real-world assets.
Bison Bank posted a recurring net profit of €5 million in 2025, double the year before. Its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 38.5%. EU regulators typically require banks to maintain a CET1 ratio above roughly 8–10%, making Bison's nearly four times that threshold. In March 2026, the bank won a Euromoney award as Portugal's Best Bank for Digital Assets.
With Tether and Circle dominating the global stablecoin market, a bank-issued, MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin serves a niche neither fully addresses: European institutional users who need regulatory certainty above all else.
Bison Bank's Alpha Score sits at 65/100, labeled Moderate, in the Financials sector.
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