In April, Clearstream plans to start providing cryptocurrency custody services to its institutional clients via a sub custody arrangement with Crypto Finance. Clearstream is the post trade arm of the Deutsche Börse Group and Switzerland’s Crypto Finance is also a subsidiary.
Crypto Finance’s German arm recently received a MiCAR license for crypto services, allowing it to operate throughout Europe. Deutsche Börse acquired a controlling stake in Crypto Finance, a digital asset trading and brokerage platform, for more than €100 million in 2021.
“Offering crypto custody is the next step on Clearstream’s journey to digitise financial markets,” said Jens Hachmeister, Head of Issuer Services & New Digital Markets at Clearstream. “The institutional-grade, regulatory compliant solution offers clients easy and quick access to new asset classes while enjoying the best features of our trusted and established post-trading systems.”
Clients of Clearstream’s International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) will initially be able to custody Bitcoin and Ether via existing accounts with Luxembourg’s Clearstream Banking SA.
Apart from listing various exchange traded products, a year ago the stock market group also launched Deutsche Börse Digital Exchange (DBDX), a cash cryptocurrency market which operates a request-for-quote (RFQ) model. DBDX offers a crypto custody option via Crypto Finance.
The Deutsche Börse Group has been particularly active in tokenization. Clearstream’s D7 has supported more than €20 billion in digital securities’ issuance, although the vast majority was centralized via the central securities depository (CSD). It’s also a major investor in digital collateral platform HQLAᵡ, and Eurex Clearing recently received regulatory approval to use digital collateral for margin purposes.
