Recently, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), Germany’s largest federal bank with approximately $355 billion in assets, announced a new collaboration with Bitpanda exchange. Under this arrangement, LBBW and Bitpanda will provide cryptocurrency custody services to corporate and institutional clients starting from the second half of the year. German banks have been increasingly engaged in the crypto sector in recent times.
Before the EU regulations take effect later this year, these banks are proactively creating their own cryptocurrency offerings and custodial services. Additionally, the German Central Bank has reported a surge in interest for crypto safekeeping solutions.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Jürgen Harengel, the managing director of corporate banking at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, shared his perspective:
Our corporate clients are asking for more digital assets, particularly crypto. We believe that cryptocurrencies will become essential for new business structures. By partnering with them now, we can lay the technical and regulatory groundwork to effectively help our corporate customers develop their unique crypto strategies.
Federal Bank Landesbank Baden-Württemberg will utilize Bitpanda’s institutional-grade custody services for their digital asset holdings. Bitpanda is a licensed digital asset custodian overseen by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and they offer decentralized finance functionalities.
Preparing for MiCA Regulations
Large German banks are getting ready in advance for the MiCA regulatory framework’s implementation by the end of 2024, which marks Europe‘s first extensive crypto market legislation.
With the impending implementation of MiCA, cryptocurrency exchanges will transform into legally recognized entities. The MiCA legislation is currently undergoing its final adjustments. The deadline for the second round of consultations regarding MiCA’s reverse solicitation guidelines is April 29. The outcomes of these consultations will substantially shape the rollout of MiCA, projected for December. As reported, Vyara Savova, senior policy advisor at the European Crypto Initiative, commented on the progress.
“This consultation will explore ways for entities from non-EU countries to offer services to EU citizens in the areas of exchanges and other CASPs, without requiring a European license. The results of this consultation will significantly influence how these services are promoted within Europe as part of MiCA’s rollout in December.”
Beginning last September 2023, Deutsche Bank, in addition to Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, has been investigating the provision of cryptocurrency custodial services. To facilitate this endeavor, the German financial powerhouse has partnered with Swiss crypto firm Taurus, providing them with custody and tokenization capabilities.
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2024-04-15 13:45