Germany’s financial behemoth is making significant strides in the crypto industry, with DZ Bank, a major player, recently unveiling its digital asset custody platform. The platform will feature crypto securities, including offerings such as the crypto bond from Siemens, initially catering to institutional clients. Holger Meffert, Head of Securities Services & Digital Custody at DZ Bank, expressed the bank’s interest in distributed ledger technology and announced plans to enable institutional investors and retail clients to purchase cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, in the near future.
To facilitate these offerings, DZ Bank applied for a crypto custody license from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority [BaFin] in June 2023. As stated in the local report, the bank, with its existing infrastructure, is also able to actively participate in the European Central Bank’s [ECB] exploration phase, in which the settlement of large-volume capital market transactions in central bank money is tested.
This move is significant as Germany has defied the global trend of declining performance in the blockchain market. According to a report published by Crypto Valley Venture Capital [CVVC] titled “The German Blockchain Report 2023,” Germany’s blockchain sector secured $355 million in investments through 34 deals, indicating a remarkable 3% year-over-year surge in funding for the nation.
Germany Bucks The Trend
This achievement becomes even more significant when considering Germany’s increased share of global blockchain funding. The nation now attracts nearly 3% of the world’s blockchain funding and has completed 2.5% of global blockchain deals. These figures represent a substantial improvement compared to 2022, where Germany’s global funding share was 0.9% and global deals accounted for 1.9%, highlighting the nation’s remarkable growth in the blockchain industry.
In parallel, Deutsche Bank, a leading German financial service provider with assets totaling nearly one and a half trillion dollars, has introduced crypto custody services for its clients. This move aligns Deutsche Bank with other major banks such as Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon, and Societe Generale, all of which offer crypto custody solutions. The entry of these established financial institutions into the crypto custody space signals a growing acceptance and integration of digital assets into the traditional banking sector, marking a pivotal moment in the evolution of the crypto industry in Germany.