Deutsche Bank will launch its first digital asset service within weeks, reported Reuters citing its corporate bank co-head Gerald Podobnik.
The German lender will initially provide crypto custody in its domestic market before taking the platform to Asian financial centres next year.
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Podobnik discussed the plans on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok.
The service is part of Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking strategy, which targets compound annual growth of 8% by 2028.
He said the expansion of the digital economy, including “hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins”, showed that new pools of value had developed over the past two decades.
“I believe that, as the financial system, we will need to offer tokenised or blockchain solutions to our clients as additional services alongside our traditional ones … but not necessarily to replace what we are doing today,” Podobnik said.
The first stage of the rollout will cover custody for major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether. Deutsche Bank plans to add services for transferring money into and out of mainstream stablecoins at a later stage.
The bank plans to provide tokenised deposits and support clients issuing blockchain-based securities, including digital bonds, Podobnik said.
Other financial institutions have also introduced digital asset and blockchain-related services.
In August, Robinhood launched a crypto trading service in the UK through Bitstamp UK. The platform enables users to buy and sell digital assets alongside stocks and shares ISAs, equities, options, and futures.
UK users can trade more than 50 cryptocurrencies through the service, including Bitcoin ($BTC), Ethereum ($ETH), XRP ($XRP), and Hyperliquid ($HYPE).
HSBC and Standard Chartered completed the first live cross-border interbank transaction using tokenised deposits on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger.
