DZ Bank And Börse Stuttgart Collaboration Present Crypto Services For Retail And Institution Customers

DZ Bank presents crypto services for customers. (Photo; Doc. GHA)

JAKARTA - DZ Bank, a central bank for 737 community banks and cooperatives in Germany, is ready to launch crypto services for retail and institutional customers. This bank is working with Börse Stuttgart, a German stock exchange that has been active in crypto since 2019. Börse Stuttgart will become DZ Bank's partner to provide secure and trusted digital asset trading and storage platforms.

According to a Bloomberg report last month, DZ Bank plans to conduct a trial of retail crypto services for its community bank partners in the second quarter of this year. This service will allow retail customers to buy, sell and store crypto assets such as bitcoin, ethereum, and others easily and comfortably. German news media, BTC Echo, first reported on this plan.

Börse Stuttgart is one of the largest stock exchanges in Europe and has been a pioneer in the crypto industry. In 2019, the exchange launched the Börse Stuttgart Digital Exchange (BSDEX), Germany's first retail-based crypto exchange organized by financial authorities.

The exchange also owns the Börse Stuttgart Digital Ventures, a company investing in the crypto and blockchain sectors. One of its investments is Axel Springer, Europe's largest media company, and SBI Digital Asset Holdings, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial group involved in the crypto business.

DZ Bank also does not want to be left behind in developing crypto solutions for its institutional customers. At the end of last year, the bank launched an institutional digital asset storage solution built with Metaco, a Swiss technology company affiliated with Ripple, a global blockchain company.

This solution allows DZ Bank to complete, manage and store crypto securities regulated by German law. In the next stage, this solution will be extended to include other crypto assets regulated by EU regulations.

With this solution, DZ Bank can meet the demands of its institutional customers who want to invest in crypto assets. One of DZ Bank's institutional customers is Union Investment, Germany's third-largest asset manager with assets under management of 424 billion euros (IDR 7,200 trillion).

Union Investment has become one of the most active investors in tokenized securities, namely securities represented by digital tokens on blockchain. Union Investment has also recently launched funding focused on companies involved in the crypto and blockchain industry.

Christoph Hock, executive of Union Investment in charge of crypto initiatives and tokenization, announced that he has started a new role as Head of Tokenization and Digital Asset Union. He will manage a digital asset portfolio that includes crypto, tokens, and other related products.

Meanwhile, Börse Stuttgart also continues to develop its institutional crypto offerings launched in 2020. The exchange has partnered with Profidata, a wealth management software provider, to make it easier for institutional customers to access and manage crypto assets. Profidata has about 40 institutional clients, including Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB), one of the largest banks in Germany. However, it is not yet known whether BayernLB plans to offer crypto services to its customers.

With the collaboration between DZ Bank and Börse Stuttgart, retail and institutional customers in Germany can expect more complete, integrated and reliable crypto services. This shows that the crypto industry in Germany is increasingly mature and growing, in line with the development of regulation and technology in this sector.