Deutsche Bank Seeks German Crypto License

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Deutsche Bank Seeks German Crypto License


Frankfurt-headquartered Deutsche Bank has applied for a digital asset license from Germany’s financial market regulator, BaFIN, according to a Bloomberg report today (Tuesday). If approved, the license will allow the banking giant to offer custody services for digital assets, including cryptocurrencies .

“We’re building out our digital assets and custody business,” Deutsche Bank’s Head of Commercial Banking Unit, David Lynne, said in a conference, confirming that “we just put our application into the Bafin for the digital asset license.”

The corporate division of Deutsche Bank has been hinting its plans to enter the crypto industry since 2020, but it never came up with a timeline. Interestingly, a report published by a German bank in early 2020 criticized Bitcoin for not being reliable to store value due to its volatility.

Lynne further elaborated that the Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking division’s interest in digital assets came as a part of its broader strategy to increase the fee income. It is following the footsteps of the investment arm DWS Group which is offering digital asset-lined services, resulting in an increase in income.

Deutsche Bank brought in € 1.9 billion in pre-tax profits in the first quarter of 2023. The profit jumped by 8 percent and came on revenue of € 7.7 billion, which also climbed by 5 percent. Revenue of its corporate banking division jumped by 35 percent to €2 billion.

Mainstream Interest in Crypto

Apart from Deutsche Bank, several other banking and mainstream financial industry giants also dived into the cryptocurrency space, mostly with the increasing interest in the asset class among retail and institutional investors. Wall Street’s JPMorgan, the sitting CEO of which once trashed Bitcoin as “fraud,” is providing its institutional clients access to multiple crypto funds.

Most recently, BlackRock, which is the world’s largest asset manager with over $10 trillion in assault under management (AUM), filed for the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) from the US’ securities market regulator.

Frankfurt-headquartered Deutsche Bank has applied for a digital asset license from Germany’s financial market regulator, BaFIN, according to a Bloomberg report today (Tuesday). If approved, the license will allow the banking giant to offer custody services for digital assets, including cryptocurrencies .

“We’re building out our digital assets and custody business,” Deutsche Bank’s Head of Commercial Banking Unit, David Lynne, said in a conference, confirming that “we just put our application into the Bafin for the digital asset license.”

The corporate division of Deutsche Bank has been hinting its plans to enter the crypto industry since 2020, but it never came up with a timeline. Interestingly, a report published by a German bank in early 2020 criticized Bitcoin for not being reliable to store value due to its volatility.

Lynne further elaborated that the Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking division’s interest in digital assets came as a part of its broader strategy to increase the fee income. It is following the footsteps of the investment arm DWS Group which is offering digital asset-lined services, resulting in an increase in income.

Deutsche Bank brought in € 1.9 billion in pre-tax profits in the first quarter of 2023. The profit jumped by 8 percent and came on revenue of € 7.7 billion, which also climbed by 5 percent. Revenue of its corporate banking division jumped by 35 percent to €2 billion.

Mainstream Interest in Crypto

Apart from Deutsche Bank, several other banking and mainstream financial industry giants also dived into the cryptocurrency space, mostly with the increasing interest in the asset class among retail and institutional investors. Wall Street’s JPMorgan, the sitting CEO of which once trashed Bitcoin as “fraud,” is providing its institutional clients access to multiple crypto funds.

Most recently, BlackRock, which is the world’s largest asset manager with over $10 trillion in assault under management (AUM), filed for the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) from the US’ securities market regulator.



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