Deutsche Bank to Launch a Custodial Service for Digital Assets

• Deutsche Bank plans to launch its own digital asset custody service this year.
• The service will be available to institutional and corporate clients in Europe after completing the required regulatory procedures.

Germany’s Deutsche Bank is developing a solution for the secure and regulated custody of digital assets for institutional and corporate clients in Europe.

The first client onboarding is planned for 2026, but the timeline depends on the completion of the required regulatory procedures. Availability by geography, the list of supported assets, and the scope of the service may change depending on regulatory requirements, the bank’s internal approvals, and demand.

Clients will be able to store digital assets and transfer them to third parties. Deutsche Bank will manage wallets and private keys on their behalf, meaning clients will not need to build and maintain custody infrastructure themselves.

“Digital assets are not a replacement for the traditional financial system, but an important complement to it,” said Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank.

He said the bank aims to provide clients with regulated access to the digital asset market. Podobnik also noted that further development of the service will depend on client demand, regulatory requirements, and Deutsche Bank’s risk appetite.

At launch, the service will support a limited set of assets. It will include bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as selected stablecoins and e-money tokens. In particular, Deutsche Bank plans to support USDC, EURC, and EURAU.

Going forward, the list may expand depending on client demand, internal product approval procedures, risk management, and regulatory processes. The project roadmap also includes tokenized financial instruments.

The Service Will Have Multi-Layered Protection

Deutsche Bank says the solution was developed with corporate governance procedures and multiple layers of operational controls in mind.

Planned mechanisms include secure key generation and hardware-based key protection, segregation of duties among employees, multi-level approval procedures, and separate environments for hot and cold storage.

The bank will also use backup technical infrastructure and controlled backup and recovery mechanisms. For certain technical components, Deutsche Bank plans to engage third-party technology and infrastructure providers.

The initial audience will be clients of Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Bank and Investment Bank. These include corporations, asset managers, hedge funds, custodians, brokers, and sovereign institutions.

Onboarding will take place in line with the bank’s criteria, customer due diligence procedures, and its risk assessment.

Deutsche Bank also highlighted the risks of digital assets, including price volatility, fraud, cyber incidents, and potential disruptions on the part of market participants. At the same time, crypto assets are not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme similar to the one that applies to bank deposits.

As a reminder, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously prepared a proposal on rules for the custodial storage of crypto assets.

Сообщение Deutsche Bank to Launch a Custodial Service for Digital Assets появились сначала на INCRYPTED.