Is Santander · Openbank crypto friendly?
Yes for buying crypto inside the bank, with a closed loop that is slow and costly to leave, and exchange transfers that vary by country.
CBL Score: 7 of 16
| Criterion | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Accepts exchange transfers | partial (1) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Stablecoin off-ramp | no (0) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Business accounts for Web3 | no (0) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Custody | yes (2) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Staking and yield | no (0) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Card | partial (1) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Multiple jurisdictions | partial (1) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Open to retail | yes (2) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
Total 7 of 16. Yes scores 2, partial 1, no 0. A secondary source is press or a third party rather than the bank or its regulator. Unverified means no source could be found; the score stands until one is.
Score history
Scores are revised when a bank's documents change. Each revision is dated and sourced.
| 8 September 2026 | Custody | partial to yes | source |
| 8 September 2026 | Stablecoin off-ramp | partial to no | source |
| 8 September 2026 | Card | no to partial | source |
Standing
| Jurisdiction | Spain · Germany |
| Type | Traditional |
| Health tag | Solid Backed by a global systemic bank, MiCA-licensed, clean crypto record. · checked 26 August 2026 |
| P2P tolerance | Strict Blocked UK payments to exchanges from 2021, and Spanish forums document accounts frozen after P2P crypto sale transfers. Openbank's own crypto product is softening the stance. · community-reported, separate from the score |
| Last verified | 8 September 2026 |
If they close your account
Closure policy: Partial
| Notice | Two months. Clause 1.13.3 of the Contrato de prestación de servicios de personas físicas (edition 1.2025): the bank may end the contract with at least two months' written notice, or longer if the law requires. The notice period does not apply and the contract can be cancelled immediately for breach by a party (false data, manipulated documents, signs of fraud or money laundering) or for serious reasons that change the circumstances of the contract. The Cuenta Corriente Open precontractual sheet states the same two months. For the crypto service (chapter 11) the bank gives one month, or immediate for payment default, AML breach or market manipulation. |
| Reasons given | By category only (terms breach, security risk, missing documents) |
| Access to funds | Clause 1.13.3: fees run until the effective cancellation date; on that day or the next business day the amounts owed by either side are settled. Products that cannot be cancelled early keep the contract alive until they mature. Chapter 11: if the crypto service is ended the bank sells the client's crypto assets and credits the proceeds to the linked current account within 15 days. |
| Appeal | No internal appeal against a closure is stated. Clause 1.9: complaints go to the Servicio de Reclamaciones y Atención al Cliente of Grupo Santander or the Defensor del Cliente; if unresolved, to the Servicio de Reclamaciones del Banco de España (or CNMV for securities matters). The precontractual sheet also names the EU online dispute platform for consumers. |
| Names crypto as a ground for closure | no |
Sources: Openbank Contrato de prestación de servicios de personas físicas (ed. 1.2025), clauses 1.9, 1.13.3 and chapter 11 · official, checked 23 September 2026
Openbank Cuenta Corriente Open precontractual information, duration of contract and complaints · official, checked 23 September 2026
A closure usually starts as a freeze. The Frozen Account Survival Kit covers the first 48 hours. Every bank side by side: which banks tell you why they closed your account.
What Santander · Openbank allows and blocks
Allowed
- Buying, selling and holding Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Polygon, Cardano, Solana and Polkadot inside the Openbank app in Spain and Germany
- Orders from 1 euro, plus recurring buys, with no custody fee
- Custody through a named regulated sub-custodian, Crypto Finance (Deutschland) GmbH of Deutsche Börse Group, in cold storage
- Requesting a return of your crypto to an approved EU MiCA custodian in your own name, on a form, within 15 business days
- Receiving fiat from an exchange into a Santander UK account, which the bank says it does not restrict
- Free current account and free Open Debit card for the first holder, free SEPA transfers in euros
Blocked or restricted
- No crypto deposits from other platforms into Openbank, which the bank says is not possible for now
- Withdrawals are full position only, by email or phone request, to Openbank-approved custodians in the EU, at 4 percent of the euro value
- No stablecoins, staking or yield in the Openbank offer
- No business accounts at all, so nothing for crypto firms
- Santander UK caps payments to crypto exchanges at 1,000 pounds per transaction and 3,000 pounds per rolling 30 days, and has blocked payments to Binance since 2021
- Crypto is live only in Spain and Germany; Openbank in Portugal, the Netherlands and the US does not offer it
Opening an account
- You need an Openbank current account first. The crypto fees are deducted from the Open current account linked to the service.
- Openbank asks for a DNI, NIE or TIE, or a passport, and may ask for proof of address such as a padrón certificate, a utility bill or a rental contract. You must be 18 or older.
- Identity is checked by video call or a short video recording, then the contract is signed electronically. The bank says online activation follows shortly after the identity check.
- Every applicant goes through an anti-money-laundering risk review. Openbank does not publish who gets rejected.
- In Germany the service is run by the Spanish bank's branch, Open Bank S.A. Zweigniederlassung Deutschland, which moved its website to openbank-espana-zweigniederlassung.de in July 2026 after the openbank.de address passed to Openbank Deutschland AG, the former Santander Consumer Bank AG.
Fees that matter
- Crypto buy, sell and crypto-to-crypto conversion: 1.49 percent of the cash amount, minimum 1 euro per order. Openbank does not publish a separate spread figure.
- Custody and administration: 0 percent. Returning crypto to another custodian: 4 percent of the euro value at the time of the return.
- Current account: no maintenance fee, free debit card for the first holder, free standard and instant SEPA transfers in euros. Currency exchange on non-euro transfers can carry a cost, with rates on the website.
- Santander UK does not charge for payments to exchanges but caps them at 1,000 pounds per transaction and 3,000 pounds in any rolling 30 days.
Regulatory history
| 2021 | Santander UK stopped customer payments to Binance from 8 July 2021, citing the FCA consumer warning of June 2021. source |
| 2022 | Santander UK capped payments to crypto exchanges at 1,000 pounds per transaction and 3,000 pounds per rolling 30 days from 15 November 2022 and said it planned to block faster payments to exchanges in 2023; its help page today still shows the caps rather than a full block. source |
| 2025 | Open Bank, S.A. appears in the CNMV public register of crypto-asset service providers under MiCA; Openbank launched crypto trading in Germany on 16 September 2025 and in Spain on 11 November 2025, with Crypto Finance (Deutschland) GmbH, BaFin-authorised, as sub-custodian. source |
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Questions about Santander · Openbank
Can I buy Bitcoin at Openbank?
Yes, in Spain and Germany. Openbank customers can buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Polygon, Cardano, Solana and Polkadot in the app from 1 euro. The fee is 1.49 percent per order with a 1 euro minimum, and there is no custody fee. The service launched in Germany on 16 September 2025 and in Spain on 11 November 2025.
Can I withdraw crypto from Openbank to my own wallet?
Only in a limited way. You cannot send crypto into Openbank from another platform. To get crypto out you email or phone the bank, fill in a form for each coin, and the whole position for that coin is sent to a custodian Openbank has approved, based in the EU and authorised under MiCA, in your own name. The fee is 4 percent of the euro value and the bank allows up to 15 business days.
Does Santander let me send money to Kraken or Coinbase?
It depends on the country. Santander UK caps payments to crypto exchanges at 1,000 pounds per transaction and 3,000 pounds in any rolling 30 days, and has blocked payments to Binance since July 2021. Money coming back from an exchange is not restricted. Openbank in Spain does not publish a policy on transfers to exchanges.
Who holds my crypto at Openbank?
Openbank provides the custody service itself under MiCA and uses Crypto Finance (Deutschland) GmbH, part of Deutsche Börse Group and authorised by BaFin, as sub-custodian. The bank says coins sit in a cold wallet disconnected from the internet. Open Bank, S.A. is listed in the CNMV register of crypto-asset service providers.
Closest alternatives
Yes. BBVA sells and holds bitcoin and ether inside its own app in Spain, Switzerland and Türkiye, but the Spanish service is a closed loop and moving coins out costs 4%.6/16N26
Partly. You can buy and sell crypto inside the app through Bitpanda, but nothing moves in or out, and N26 publishes no rule either way on transfers to outside exchanges.