German Banking Giant Deutche Bank Seeks a Crypto License (Report)

The largest bank in Germany in terms of total assets – Deutsche Bank – has reportedly sought regulatory permission to start operating as a crypto custodian.

DZ Bank – another leading financial institution in the country – has already progressed in that field, partnering with Metaco and Harmonize to offer digital asset custody to institutional clients. 

• Recent Bloomberg coverage informed that Deutsche Bank (the biggest German bank with millions of customers and total assets exceeding $1.4 trillion) has applied with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to establish its “digital assets and custody business.” 

“We just put our application into the Bafin for the digital asset license,” David Lynne – Member of Group Management Committee at Deutsche Bank – said.

• He explained that the initiative is part of the bank’s strategy to boost fee income and matches the efforts of Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm – DWS Group.
• The latter has supposedly revealed its intentions to invest in two cryptocurrency firms: Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA) and Tradias. It also contemplated a possible collaboration with Galaxy Digital – a crypto-focused financial services company spearheaded by Bitcoin proponent Mike Novogratz. 
• Deutsche Bank’s rival in Germany – DZ Bank (the central institution of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network) – has also presented similar ambitions. The BaFin-regulated entity teamed up with the Swiss firm Metaco and the orchestration platform Harmonize in February this year to provide crypto custody services to institutional clients.