Key takeaways:
- Launching its blockchain-based digital asset custody platform, DZ Bank is the third-biggest bank in Germany based on asset size.
- The bank also intends to provide institutional and individual clients with the ability to purchase cryptocurrencies in the future, “like Bitcoin.”
Launching its own blockchain-based digital asset custody platform, DZ Bank is the third-biggest bank in Germany based on asset size.
In an announcement released on November 2, the platform stated that it will collaborate with institutional clients, providing them with cryptocurrency securities like the Siemens crypto bond, to which DZ Bank has subscribed for the past six months.
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is something that DZ is interested in, according to Holger Meffert, head of securities services and digital custody:
“We assume that within the next ten years, a significant proportion of capital market business will be processed via distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based infrastructures. In the medium term, we see DLT as a complementary technology to the established infrastructures in the existing capital market processes.”
The bank also intends to provide institutional and individual clients with the ability to purchase cryptocurrencies in the future, “like Bitcoin.” DZ applied for a crypto custody license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in June 2023 in order to accomplish that.
The adoption of cryptocurrency by German banks is increasing in spite of the nation’s stringent industry regulations. An increasing number of organizations are figuring out how to give their clients access to cryptocurrencies.
The introduction of Deutsche WertpapierServiceBank’s wpNex cryptocurrency trading platform in March 2023 marked a significant milestone as it allowed 1,200 German banks and savings institutions to participate in the digital asset market.
The asset management business DWS, which is primarily controlled by Deutsche Bank, has declared that it is creating various digital solutions that would allow investors to access blockchain applications and digital assets, in addition to working on cryptocurrency exchange-traded products for the European market.
The German financial authority BaFin also requests cryptocurrency custody licenses from other conventional banks, such as Commerzbank and DekaBank.
