One of Germany’s major banks, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), has made a significant move into the cryptocurrency space. By collaborating with the cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda, the bank aims to offer a crypto service tailored to corporate clients. This step marks Bitpanda’s first partnership with a German bank.
Continued Moves into the Cryptocurrency Space
The bank’s executive responsible for digitalization and innovation, Stephan Paxmann, stated, “Together, we want to enable our corporate clients to store and procure crypto assets in the second half of the year.” This move signifies LBBW’s entry as the next bank into the German crypto sector.
Last year, Commerzbank became the first bank among German banks to obtain its own crypto custody license. However, they initially focused only on the custody of crypto assets. Deutsche Bank has also taken a similar step and plans to start holding crypto assets for professional clients after obtaining its license.
LBBW has decided to collaborate with Bitpanda due to not having its own custody license. Bitpanda plays a significant role in this partnership by also providing the technical infrastructure as a solution.
What Will Bitpanda Do?
Bitpanda will execute trading transactions and store crypto assets for LBBW’s corporate clients. Initially, a selection will be made from various cryptocurrencies. Since November 2022, the cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda has been licensed by Bafin for the storage and trading of cryptocurrencies.
This collaboration signals further growth in the cryptocurrency sector in Germany. Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, head of Bitpanda’s infrastructure unit, emphasizes the importance of this step by stating, “The partnership marks a turning point.” The targeted group includes banks, brokers, and crypto companies.
A Three-Year Partnership
The partnership is initially planned for three years. Paxmann indicates potential future expansion by saying, “We do not want to disregard adding an offer for private clients in the future.”
DZ Bank also recently announced that it would offer cryptocurrency trading services to private clients in collaboration with the Stuttgart Stock Exchange. These steps show the increasing interest of the German banking sector in the field of cryptocurrencies.
