France’s second-largest banking group, BPCE, made a major move on December 8—officially opening cryptocurrency trading services to its customers. Two of its banks are piloting the service in four regions, allowing users to directly purchase and hold digital assets like Bitcoin through the bank’s app. According to the plan, this service will soon expand to more branches.

This isn’t the first time French financial institutions have tested the waters in the crypto sector. A subsidiary of Société Générale has already issued its own US dollar stablecoin, and a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole was among the first to obtain EU MiCA compliance certification. It appears that these century-old institutions are no longer content to sit on the sidelines—they’re lining up to enter the market.

Interestingly, Europe’s economic landscape is also undergoing subtle changes. Recently, the euro has been strengthening, which on the surface signals renewed confidence, but the side effects are clear—import prices are being suppressed and deflationary pressures are rising. This is putting the European Central Bank in a difficult position: to combat potential deflation, the market widely expects the ECB may have to launch a new round of interest rate cuts.

On one hand, traditional banks are proactively embracing digital assets, searching for new growth points; on the other, the central bank is repeatedly weighing inflation against deflation, adjusting its monetary policy. These two developments may seem independent, but in reality, they both point in the same direction—Europe’s financial system is undergoing a deep structural transformation.

Is the entry of traditional financial institutions into the space an act of self-evolution for the industry, or the beginning of digital currencies being gradually brought under regulatory oversight? As banks start offering crypto services, can the original decentralized vision still be preserved? And as the ECB faces exchange rate fluctuations and deflation risks, how should it balance monetary policy with market innovation?

There are no standard answers to these questions. But one thing is certain: the rules of the financial world are being rewritten, and this transformation has only just begun.