On Thursday, Commerzbank announced that it had teamed up with Crypto Finance, a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse, to offer secure trading and custody of cryptoassets to its corporate clients.
This move comes shortly after Crypto Finance reached a similar agreement with Zürcher Kantonalbank in Switzerland. The service will initially focus on Bitcoin and Ether, allowing selected Commerzbank clients based in Germany to access these digital assets through a regulated and trusted partnership.
In this collaboration, Commerzbank, which is one of Germany’s largest banks in terms of branches, will handle the custody of digital assets. Meanwhile, Crypto Finance will provide the trading services, ensuring the process is both smooth and secure.
Crypto Finance, which has been active in the institutional crypto space since 2017, has strengthened its presence in Germany by acquiring several regulatory approvals from BaFin, Germany’s financial watchdog. This allows the company to offer fully compliant crypto services in the country, building on its foundation of secure and regulated services in Switzerland.
According to the press release shared with CryptoGlobe, Gernot Kleckner, Divisional Board Member Capital Markets in the Corporate Clients segment at Commerzbank, had this to say about this partnership:
“Our offering in digital assets enables our corporate clients to seize the opportunities presented by bitcoin and ether for the first time. We are a reliable and competent partner for our corporate clients in these future markets. Our joint solution represents the highest level of security in the trading and custody of crypto assets, which is also a standard we also share with the Deutsche Börse Group.”
Crypto Finance CEO Stijn Vander Straeten described the collaboration as a major step forward in expanding access to regulated crypto services for institutional clients throughout Germany and Europe.
In November 2023, Commerzbank became the first German universal bank to obtain a crypto custody license under §1 Abs. 1a Satz 1 Nr. 6 of the German Banking Act (KWG), allowing it to offer a wide range of services related to digital assets, particularly cryptocurrencies.
Featured Image via Pixabay
