Deutsche Bank confirmed on Sept. 16 that it plans to launch institutional digital-asset custody later in 2026, covering Bitcoin, Ether and three stablecoins. The service still depends on the bank completing its regulatory process, and no exact launch date has been set.
Deutsche Bank said it will launch a digital-asset custody platform for institutional and corporate clients later this year, once its regulatory process is complete. The bank will manage clients' wallets and private keys, letting them safeguard assets and transfer them to third parties.
According to crypto.news, Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank's Corporate Bank, said digital assets are "not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it"
Five assets planned at launch
Initial support is planned for Bitcoin, Ether, USDC, EURC and EURAU, according to details the bank released on Sept. 16. USDC and EURC are Circle-issued dollar and euro stablecoins, while EURAU is a euro-backed token launched by AllUnity, a joint venture between DWS, Flow Traders and Galaxy, after it received an electronic-money institution license from BaFin.
The bank said the asset list is subject to its product approval, risk management and regulatory processes, and that future additions will depend on client demand. The service will initially focus on clients in Germany, targeting asset managers, hedge funds, custodians, brokers, sovereign institutions and corporates.
Bank to hold keys behind hardware-based controls
Deutsche Bank's custody model puts responsibility for wallet and private-key management with the bank itself, so institutional clients would not need to build their own key-management infrastructure. Its planned security setup includes hardware-based key protection, secure key generation, segregation of duties and multi-person approval for transactions, with separate warm and cold storage environments backed by redundant systems.
Regulatory approval still stands in the way
Deutsche Bank has not given an exact launch date, saying only that the platform is expected to start later this year once its regulatory process is finished. For EU banks, the European Securities and Markets Authority states that a credit institution can offer crypto-asset services through the notification process under MiCA Article 60, provided it submits the required information to its competent authority. Germany's Bundesbank says such notifications go to both BaFin and the Bundesbank. BaFin has cautioned that a bank cannot begin a crypto service before that notification is complete.
Deutsche Bank first applied to BaFin for regulatory permission related to digital-asset custody in 2023, and its Sept. 16 announcement does not state that all remaining steps have been completed.
Taurus and Bitpanda already back the buildout
The bank did not name its technology partners in the Sept. 16 announcement, but it signed a global agreement with Swiss infrastructure provider Taurus in September 2023 to use its custody and tokenization technology. A later Bloomberg report said Deutsche Bank was also working with Bitpanda Technology Solutions, now renamed Bitpanda Enterprise, to build the 2026 custody service.
Source: crypto.news
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