Germany’s largest bank is moving deeper into digital asset custody, with plans to expand services to Asian financial centers next year as stablecoin holdings surge.
Deutsche Bank received regulatory authorization from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulations (MiCA) to launch crypto custody services in the country. The bank will initially support Bitcoin, Ether, and select stablecoins including Circle’s USDC, EURC, and AllUnity EUR.
Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank, said the expansion reflects underlying market dynamics. “The rapid growth of the digital asset economy, including hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins, is driving the bank’s plans,” Podobnik stated.
The custody rollout follows Deutsche Bank’s September 2023 partnership with Taurus, a cryptocurrency infrastructure platform that supports the bank’s digital asset operations. Details of the service were outlined in a press release on September 16.
Deutsche Bank plans to expand the custody offering to Asian financial centers in 2027, though the bank did not name specific target jurisdictions. The move aligns with the bank’s broader corporate banking strategy, which targets 8% compound annual growth by 2028.
MiCA, which entered force across the European Union this year, establishes a unified regulatory framework for crypto-asset service providers. Deutsche Bank’s authorization marks a significant step for traditional banking institutions entering the institutional custody market for digital assets.
