German federal bank to provide cryptocurrency services to institutional and corporate clientele

Germany’s largest federal bank is preparing to introduce cryptocurrency custody services in partnership with Bitpanda, a cryptocurrency exchange. The aim of this collaboration is to attract institutional and corporate clients to the local virtual asset market. Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), the country’s largest state-backed lender with assets under management exceeding $350 billion, plans to launch these custody services in the second half of 2024. Bitpanda will provide LBBW with its “investment-as-a-service” infrastructure, enabling the bank to offer cryptocurrencies to its corporate clients. The decision to venture into crypto custody is driven by the increasing demand for digital assets from LBBW’s corporate customers. Although the initial focus will be on institutional and corporate clients, there is no clarity on whether retail clients will be included in the offering. LBBW, founded in 1999, is a full-service commercial bank and serves as the central bank for savings banks in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saxony. The bank’s move into crypto custody aligns with the growing interest in cryptocurrencies among private investors in Germany, as revealed by a recent study conducted by KPMG and BTC-ECHO. The study found that more than half of private investors in Germany allocate over 20% of their total assets to crypto investments.