Germany’s largest bank to launch custodial service in conjunction with crypto exchange Bitpanda

The launch is expected in the second half of this year

15.04.2024 - 12:55

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What’s new? Germany’s largest federal bank Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) will launch a cryptocurrency storage service for institutional and corporate clients in cooperation with crypto exchange Bitpanda in the second half of this year. LBBW’s managing director of corporate banking, Jürgen Harengel, noted the strong demand for digital assets among the bank’s corporate clients.

Material by Bloomberg

What else is known? For Bitpanda, whose headquarters are located in Vienna, this is not the first cooperation with institutions from the traditional finance sector. For example, back in October 2022, German bank N26 launched the ability to trade more than a hundred cryptocurrencies in its mobile app together with a crypto exchange. Bitpanda within this product is responsible for executing trades and storing coins.

Last November, Austrian Raiffeisen Bank announced the launch of a cryptocurrency trading service for retail customers. They will be able to access Bitpanda via the Raiffeisen mobile app and confirm cryptocurrency transactions similar to bank transfers with the appropriate level of security.

Local banks and investment firms have been increasingly active in the crypto asset space, offering custodial services and developing their own products ahead of the entry into force of the pan-European MiCA regulatory rules for the digital asset industry, expected later this year.

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In February this year, Germany’s third-largest bank DZ Bank announced piloting a trading service for BTC and other cryptocurrencies for retail customers. Earlier, German software giant SAP began testing USDC stablecoin for cross-border payments, and local DeFi platform Swarm launched a trading platform for tokenized assets.

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