BBVA is advising wealthy clients to invest up to 7% of their portfolio into cryptocurrencies, an executive said on Tuesday, in the latest sign some banks are warming to a sector long avoided by mainstream finance because of its risks. BBVA’s private bank advises clients to invest 3% to 7% of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies depending on their risk appetite, Philippe Meyer, head of digital & blockchain solutions at BBVA Switzerland. “With private customers, since September last year, we started advising on bitcoin,” Meyer said. “The riskier profile, we allow up to 7% of (portfolios in) crypto.” Meyer believes BBVA was one of the first large global banks to advise its wealthy clients to buy cryptocurrencies. It had been executing on client requests to buy them since 2021, he said. The 3-7% advice currently applies to bitcoin and ether, but BBVA plans to expand the advice to other cryptocurrencies later this year, he said. Meyer said that clients had been receptive so far to the advice, and dismissed concerns the asset was too risky. “If you look at a balanced portfolio, if you introduce 3% you already boost the performance,” Meyer said. “At 3% you are not taking a huge risk.”