Deutsche Bank weeks away from launching Bitcoin and Ether custody for corporate clients
The bank will hold BTC, ETH and stablecoins for institutional clients in Europe first and plans to expand to Asian financial centers as early as 2027.
ETFS & INSTITUTIONS
Daniel Hartley
10/16/20261 min read
Deutsche Bank is only weeks away from launching crypto custody for corporate and institutional clients, Corporate Bank co-head Gerald Podobnik told Reuters in an interview in Bangkok, reported on October 16. The bank plans to extend the platform to Asian financial centers as early as 2027 but has not named cities or an approval timetable.
At launch the service will support Bitcoin, Ether and the stablecoins USDC, EURC and EURAU, with tokenized instruments planned later. EURAU is issued by AllUnity, a joint venture of Deutsche Bank's asset manager DWS, Galaxy and Flow Traders. The bank will hold wallets and private keys for clients, using hardware-based key generation, multi-person approvals and separate warm and cold storage. Retail clients are excluded.
Deutsche Bank first announced the service on September 16, targeting regulated custody for European clients by the end of 2026, pending approvals. It has not disclosed fees or client commitments. Other German lenders, including Commerzbank, LBBW and DZ Bank, already offer or hold licenses for crypto custody. In the US, BNY began Bitcoin and Ether custody in 2022, and Citi plans crypto custody in 2026.
Source: Crypto Valley Journal, 24/7 Wall St.