German multinational Deutsche Bank is just weeks away from debuting its crypto custody service, according to a Friday Reuters report that quoted the lender's corporate banking chief.

Germany's biggest bank also plans to expand the custody platform into Asia next year, the report added.

JUST IN: €732 billion Deutsche Bank to launch Bitcoin custody to its 28 million clients pic.twitter.com/TAh9EwLkIX
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Deutsche Bank first officially announced plans in September to debut a bitcoin custody service for European corporate and institutional clients, saying at the time that the launch was subject to the completion of the applicable regulatory timeline. The announcement described a digital asset custody solution developed for institutional and corporate customers.

Custody services of this kind center on safeguarding the private keys that control access to customers' digital assets, giving corporate and institutional clients a way to hold bitcoin within an established banking relationship. Crypto custody is also a regulated activity in Germany, where it has required authorization under the country's banking rules since 2020, and firms across the European Union now operate under the bloc's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which took full effect at the end of 2024.

Friday's report added that the service will support custody of major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin before moving to services that help clients move money into and out of stablecoins.

Gerald Podobnik, co-head of the corporate bank, was quoted by Reuters saying that the financial system will need to “offer tokenized or blockchain solutions.”

Top banks worldwide are debuting or planning to debut crypto custody services, with BNY Mellon, State Street, Standard Chartered, U.S. Bank and Citigroup all committing to direct crypto custody over the past 18 months.

A number of top banks have started using blockchain, the technology that powers bitcoin, for their own products in recent years. Stablecoins and tokenization in particular have become a hot topic as traditional financial firms aim to accelerate certain services.

Crypto custody is often a starting point for banks moving into the digital asset space. BNY Mellon in 2022 became the first major U.S. bank to offer digital asset custody services, while banks like Citi and Standard Chartered have this year debuted or announced plans for bitcoin custody around the world.

This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.