Deutsche Bank to Launch Crypto Custody in Germany, Plans Asia Expansion in 2027
Key Takeaways
- •Deutsche Bank has received MiCA authorization from Germany's BaFin for its cryptocurrency custody service, per ESMA's interim register, matching an October approval timeline the bank had indicated.
- •The custody offering will initially support Bitcoin, Ether, and select stablecoins, including Circle USDC, EURC, and AllUnity EUR, whose issuer is a joint venture backed by DWS.
- •Deutsche Bank plans to extend the custody service to Asian financial centers in 2027, though it has not disclosed which markets or an exact launch date.
- •Corporate bank co-head Gerald Podobnik said growth of the digital asset economy, including hundreds of billions of dollars in stablecoins, is driving the bank's custody plans.
- •The custody initiative supports Deutsche Bank's goal of 8% compound annual growth in corporate banking by 2028 and has been in development since its September 2023 partnership with Taurus.
Deutsche Bank is preparing to debut cryptocurrency custody services in Germany and plans to expand the offering across Asian financial centers in 2027. Custody — the safeguarding of crypto assets on behalf of clients — is a core regulated service in the digital asset economy, and Deutsche Bank's entry adds one of Germany's largest banks to the growing ranks of traditional lenders offering it.
Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank's corporate bank, said the rapid growth of the digital asset economy — including hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins — is driving the bank's plans, according to a Friday report by Reuters.
Podobnik added that the custody initiative forms part of Deutsche Bank's goal to achieve compound annual growth of 8% in corporate banking by 2028.
According to a Sept. 16 press release, the custody service will initially support Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and select stablecoins, including Circle USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC) and AllUnity EUR (EURAU). AllUnity, the issuer behind EURAU, is a joint venture backed by DWS, Deutsche Bank's asset management arm.
A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank recently told Cointelegraph that the bank expects to receive regulatory approval for the custody offering in October under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the European Union's harmonized framework under which authorization from a national regulator such as BaFin allows providers to offer crypto-asset services across the bloc. The European Securities and Markets Authority's interim MiCA register showed that Deutsche Bank received authorization from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) on Monday, aligning with the timeline the spokesperson described.
Cointelegraph has contacted Deutsche Bank for comment on which Asian financial centers it plans to target first but had not received a response by the time of publication. The bank has also not disclosed a launch date for the service, leaving the go-live timeline and the initial list of Asian markets among the key details to watch as the offering moves from authorization to operation.
In September 2023, Deutsche Bank partnered with cryptocurrency infrastructure platform Taurus to support its digital asset custody plans, meaning the initiative has been in development for roughly three years.
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