Deutsche Bank awaits regulatory nod to launch institutional crypto custody solutions

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest financial institution, is awaiting regulatory approval to introduce institutional custody solutions for digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, and select stablecoins before expanding into tokenized assets. The bank announced its plans to commence offering the services to clients this year, pending the completion of the necessary regulatory process.

Initial support will cover Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and a range of stablecoins like Circle USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC), and AllUnity EUR (EURAU). Deutsche Bank also intends to provide services for tokenized financial instruments in the future. Recognized as a Global Systemically Important Bank by the Financial Stability Board, Deutsche Bank's latest venture into the cryptocurrency sector follows earlier reports of its development of custodial services.

In June, the bank's head of digital assets, Sabih Behzad, announced the institution's consideration of entering the stablecoin market, which could see it issue its own token. Deutsche Bank anticipates receiving the license for the custody offering in October, under the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. The acceleration of Deutsche Bank's pursuit of crypto services is anticipated after MiCA became fully enforceable on July 1.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Bank announced its plans to launch crypto custody solutions in 2023, following its partnership with Taurus, after applying for a digital asset custody license in Germany. Other German banks are also providing similar offerings. In April 2024, the country's largest federal bank, the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, initiated crypto custody solutions in collaboration with Austria-based Bitpanda for its institutional custody platform.

In December 2025, DZ Bank received authorization from the German regulator BaFin under MiCA to operate its meinKrypto platform.