German banking giant Commerzbank seeks to offer cryptocurrency custody services

Uno de los mayores bancos de Alemania está ingresando al espacio de las monedas digitales, con la solicitud de una licencia para ser criptocusdio.

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Commerzbank Germany’s fourth-largest bank by total assets, is pursuing plans to become a cryptocustodian.

According to a report by Cointelegraph the giant financial institution applied this year for a license from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, better known as BaFin, to start offering cryptocurrency custody services. Once it has the authorization of the German regulator, Commerzbank plans to offer the service to institutional clients.

The bank’s spokesman, Bernd Reh, confirmed the recent efforts to the media and indicated that the institution is taking its first steps into the growing digital currency currency is a medium of exchange that defines value. sector.

In the field of “digital assets”, Commerzbank wants to contribute to shaping the emerging digital digital technologies are these electronic tools that have the ability to generate, store or even process data. ecosystems, especially with regard to the custody custody is a financial institution's legal capacity to keep and preserve financial assets for its clients to avoid asset theft or loss. and trading of non-physical assets. To this end, we are initiating a cooperation with Deutsche Börse and fintech 360x in spring 2021.

“In addition, we are pursuing our own digital asset strategy and are also planning our own offerings for our customers over the next few years “, Aggregate.

German bank moves into cryptocurrencies

Reh’s comments suggest that the bank could begin offering trading services for investment products linked to cryptocurrencies, such as vehicles derived from German Stock Exchange. However, it is unclear whether the plans of Commerzbank include the trading and safekeeping of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency in the world. It is a decentralized digital currency that enables users to make trustless peer-to-peer transactions. or investment instruments linked to such assets.

The German stock market an area or arena, online or offline, in which commercial dealings are conducted. German Stock Exchange businesses that allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies. provides investors with exposure to digital assets through exchange-traded notes (ETNs) physically backed by assets such as Bitcoin y Ether the form of payment used in the operation of the distribution application platform, Ethereum.. As reported by DiarioBitcoin the company expanded its offer at the end of last year of cryptocurrency ETNs, with the incorporation of products for Solana , Tron y Polkadot .

The recent movement makes Commerzbank into one of the first major banks in Germany to take a step in the direction of digital assets. With more than €462 billion under management and nearly 28,000 corporate client a client is software that can access and process blockchain transactions on a local computer. A common application of this is a cryptocurrency software wallet. groups, the bank’s new cryptocurrency offering could invite more accredited investors to enter the cryptocurrency market.

However, Commerzbank must still wait for regulatory approval to make the leap. According to reports, at least 24 other financial institutions are awaiting cryptocurrency cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that use cryptographic technologies to secure their operation. licenses from BaFin . To date, only four have been approved by the German financial authority.

In the middle of last year, the exchange U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, received approval from regulator to operate as a cryptocurrency custodian a custodian is responsible for safely holding assets for an institution or individual for a variety of purposes. in Germany . The companies Kapilando , Tangany and, more recently, Upvest are the others who have obtained the license.