Germany’s Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) has unveiled plans to furnish its institutional and corporate clienteles with an “investment-as-a-service” framework for managing and acquiring cryptocurrencies.
As the largest state bank in Germany, LBBW has joined forces with the Austrian-based Bitpanda exchange to introduce these novel crypto custody services. The initiative is slated to kick off with a custody trial in the latter half of 2024, initially encompassing the storage and trading of bitcoin and ether.
LBBW’s Collaboration with Bitpanda
By collaborating with Bitpanda, LBBW aims to leverage the technical and regulatory infrastructure necessary to deliver this new digital asset trading and custody solution to its clientele, remarked Stefanie Münz, a member of LBBW’s Board of Directors. Münz underscored, “By offering crypto-asset custody, we are positioning ourselves with a clear added value for our corporate clients, while ensuring the highest security standards.”
LBBW has disclosed that it is at the nascent stages of establishing the requisite technical and regulatory framework to adeptly support the distinct crypto strategies of its corporate customers.
Dr. Jürgen Harengel, COO of LBBW Corporate Bank, emphasized the burgeoning demand from corporate customers for digital assets, expressing confidence in the ascendance of crypto assets as a foundational element for future business models.
Bitpanda’s German Crypto Trading and Custody License
In a significant development, Bitpanda obtained a crypto trading and custody license in Germany from the country’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in November.
This regulatory approval empowers the Vienna-headquartered exchange to legally extend crypto custody and proprietary trading services to German residents, including the maintenance of an order book and direct marketing of crypto services.
Bitpanda has already secured licenses across several European jurisdictions, including Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the U.K., the Czech Republic, and Sweden.
