Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, has launched a cryptocurrency custody service for institutional and corporate clients, according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph. The bank said clients can store and transfer Bitcoin, Ether and select stablecoins, with Deutsche Bank managing their wallets and private keys.
The service initially supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and selected stablecoins including Circle’s USDC and EURC, as well as AllUnity EURAU.
Regulatory groundwork
Deutsche Bank announced plans to offer the service to institutional and corporate clients in Europe on Sept. 16, pending regulatory clearance. Its listing for crypto custody and transfer services in the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation register is dated Oct. 12 and names Germany’s BaFin as its regulator.
Asset management collaboration
The bank also signed a memorandum of understanding with Deutsche Asset Management, its majority-owned asset manager, to explore collaboration on tokenized money market funds, crypto asset exchange-traded commodities and stablecoins.
Expansion plans
Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank, told Reuters in October that the bank planned to launch in Germany before expanding to Asian financial centers in 2027. Deutsche Bank partnered with crypto infrastructure provider Taurus in 2023 to develop custody services after applying for a digital asset custody license in Germany.
