Commerzbank, one of Germany’s top banks, has acknowledged that it sought a local cryptocurrency license early this year, marking the very first time a major bank has initiated a step toward cryptocurrencies in the country.
On April 14, a Commerzbank representative told Börsen-Zeitung that the bank “applied for the crypto custody license in the first quarter of 2022.” If allowed, it will be able to provide exchange services as well as crypto-asset custody and protection.
The cryptocurrency offering would apparently target Commerzbank’s institutional client base, with over 18 million consumers and over 70,000 institutional clients.
Commerzbank listened to the customers
Since January 1, 2020, any company intending to provide cryptocurrency services in Germany must first get authorization from the BaFin (Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority).
Only four companies have received clearance so far, but BaFin says it has over 25 applications pending from companies interested in operating crypto custody operations.
Coinbase Germany was the first company to receive approval from the authority in June 2021, while Upvest, a Berlin-based financial technology startup, was the most recent to receive approval in March.
Commerzbank began working on blockchain initiatives in 2018. The following year, it completed some of the first transactions on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) secure lending platform with other big banks.
In August 2021, the company announced a collaboration to create blockchain-based digital markets for current asset classes, including art and real estate.
In 2021, Germany enacted a slew of laws, rules, and policies to accelerate the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.
German investors are also interested in cryptocurrencies. According to a March research by Kucoin, 44% of Germans are “inspired to invest in cryptocurrencies,” and 37% of German crypto investors have been trading for over a year.
According to the survey, the continued development of legal legislation for the decentralized business in Germany has resulted in 16 percent of the German population aged 18 to 60 being crypto investors who possess or have traded cryptocurrencies in the last six months.
According to statistics, 41% of the aforementioned crypto investors want to raise the percentage of their investments in cryptocurrency in the next six months. Another 13% of Germans are interested in cryptocurrencies and want to invest in them in the next six months.