Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch crypto custody services in Germany, with plans to expand into key Asian financial centers in 2027. The move comes as the digital asset economy continues to grow rapidly, with hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins. Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank, told Reuters that this initiative aligns with the bank’s goal of achieving an 8% compound annual growth rate in corporate banking by 2028.
The custody service will initially support Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and select stablecoins, including Circle USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC), and AllUnity EUR (EURAU). A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank confirmed to Cointelegraph that the bank expects to receive regulatory approval for the custody offering in October under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulations (MiCA). The European Securities and Markets Authority’s interim MiCA register showed that Deutsche Bank received authorization from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) on Monday.
Cointelegraph reached out to Deutsche Bank for details on which Asian financial centers the bank plans to target first but did not receive a response by the time of publication. In September 2023, Deutsche Bank partnered with cryptocurrency infrastructure platform Taurus to support its crypto custody plans.