Deutsche Bank to Launch Crypto Custody Solution

Deutsche Bank is set to launch its digital asset custody solution this year, the bank has announced, subject to the completion of the applicable regulatory timeline. It says the new service will provide institutional and corporate clients in Europe with secure and regulated custody services for selected digital assets.

“Digital assets are not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it,” says Gerald Podobnik, co-head Corporate Bank, Deutsche Bank. “We see them as new rails that can coexist with existing market infrastructures while benefiting from the trust, security and safeguards that regulated financial institutions provide.

“Our aim is to offer clients a secure and regulated gateway to this evolving market,” he adds. “The service will be further developed in line with client demand, regulatory requirements and the bank’s risk appetite.”

The solution will allow clients to safeguard their digital assets and transfer digital assets to third parties. Deutsche Bank will manage the wallets and private keys on clients’ behalf, thus, the bank says, reducing the need for clients to build and maintain their own custody infrastructure.

At launch, Deutsche will support a selected range of digital assets, including bitcoin and ether, as well as selected stable coins or e-money tokens, including USDC and EURC, EURAU. The range of supported assets may be expanded over time, the bank says, subject to client demand and the bank’s product-approval, risk management and regulatory processes. Tokenized financial instruments are also included in the roadmap.

The bank says the solution has been designed around multiple layers of security and operational control within a strict governance. These include secure key generation and hardware-based protection, segregation of duties, multi-person approval processes, separate warm and cold storage environments, a redundant technical setup, and controlled backup and recovery arrangements.