The French banking sector is making big moves again.

BPCE (the second largest banking group in France) has directly opened crypto trading for some customers this week—you can buy BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC. The initial rollout covers about 2 million people.

But they're not stopping there; they say they want to expand to all 25 regional branches by 2026, which would allow them to serve over 12 million retail customers. That's a pretty significant scale.

Of course, the pricing reflects that: they charge a €2.99 monthly membership fee, plus a 1.5% commission on trades. Compared to native crypto platforms? Definitely more expensive. But think about it—a lot of traditional users are just after convenience. Being able to buy crypto with a couple of taps in their usual banking app, without having to register on some unfamiliar platform, is worth the cost for them.

Traditional finance is accelerating its entry. The pace is picking up.