Today Bloomberg reported that Deutsche Bank intends to launch cryptocurrency custody services next year, citing sources. It plans to partner with Bitpanda Technology Services, an arm of the European crypto exchange. The bank will combine this partnership with its existing relationship with Taurus for custody technology.
While it was not in the Bloomberg report, the arrangement may split responsibilities, with Bitpanda handling trading services and Deutsche Bank providing custody, following established industry patterns. Several German institutions have already developed crypto services.
For example, Commerzbank landed its custody license in 2023 and launched its offering for corporate clients last year. Apart from offering custody internally, it also provides trading services via an alliance with Deutsche Börse owned Crypto Finance.
Last year Bitpanda partnered with state-owned bank LBBW to develop both custody and trading services for its corporate clients, providing an “investing-as-a-service” infrastructure.
While both Commerzbank and LBBW target corporates, DZ Bank is helping Germany’s community savings banks offer crypto services to consumers via a relationship with Börse Stuttgart Digital.
This broader adoption across German banking contrasts with Deutsche Bank’s slower entry into crypto custody. By contrast, the bank has been more proactive in blockchain-based payment infrastructure.
On that front, it is exploring stablecoin issuance and its asset management arm, DWS, is involved in the AllUnity stablecoin. Additionally, it is working on both single-bank and collaborative interbank tokenized deposits in Germany. It’s also involved in cross border tokenized settlement as an investor in Partior.
