DZ BANK Group entered into an agreement with Boerse Stuttgart Digital to enable around 700 cooperative banks in Germany to offer their customers digital asset storage and trading services. The first TradFi institutions will have access to cryptocurrencies in late 2024.
DZ BANK Group, Germany’s second largest banking group, partnered with Boerse Stuttgart Digital, the digital asset division of Boerse Stuttgart Group, one of the biggest exchange groups in Europe. As part of the partnership, DZ BANK will leverage Boerse Stuttgart Digital’s expertise to launch crypto trading and custody services across the group’s cooperative banks.
DZ BANK Group comprises more than 700 cooperative banks in Germany, including Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, DZ HYP, DZ PRIVATBANK, R+V Versicherung, TeamBank, Union Investment Group, VR Smart Finanz, and other specialized financial institutions.
As part of the cooperation, Boerse Stuttgart will provide DZ BANK Group with regulated infrastructure and technical solutions, while Boerse Stuttgart Digital will operate a crypto trading and storage platform for cooperative banks. In the first implementation phase, the service will be available to a small group of customers who will test the capabilities of the new platform in late 2024. The full launch is planned for 2025.
According to Matthias Voelkel, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group, the partnership with DZ BANK will significantly expand the availability of digital assets in the region, as the proposed infrastructure is focused on retail customers, who will be able to get a safe and secure tool for working with cryptocurrencies.
Boerse Stuttgart Group is the sixth largest exchange group in Europe and holds over 15 licenses issued by financial market regulators in Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. Approximately 20% of the exchange’s revenue in 2024 is attributable to Boerse Stuttgart Digital, the exchange’s infrastructure division, which provides institutional and retail trading and brokerage services, as well as cryptocurrency storage services.
German banks are actively expanding the opportunities for their customers to use cryptocurrencies. Dwpbank implemented a solution for trading BTC, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg offered its clients a service for storing digital assets, and Deutsche Bank is testing the tokenization of assets and opened access to crypto transactions via IBAN.
