Today German business newspaper
Handelsblatt reported that 40 banks have approached the German regulator BaFin expressing an interest in getting into the digital asset or crypto asset custody business. At the end of December, Germany passed a new law implementing the latest EU Money Laundering Directive into its
Banking Act (KWG), which covers the custody of crypto assets. The new legislation came into force on January 1st.
Existing banks who want to extend their business to cover the custody of digital assets will now need an additional license.
But the definition of crypto assets is broad enough to cover both cryptocurrencies and an asset-backed digital asset. Hence the interest from banks may be viewed as either interest in cryptocurrencies or blockchain.
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