Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany with assets worth $1.3 trillion, has applied for a license to operate a digital asset custody platform with the German financial regulatory authority, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The bank has been working on the custody platform for over two years.
According to David Lynne, the global head of corporate bank at Deutsche Bank, who spoke at a conference earlier this week, the bank is expanding its digital assets and custody business and has confirmed that it has submitted an application to BaFin for a digital asset license.
It appears that the German bank has been working on a custody platform for crypto assets since 2020, aiming to establish a "minimum viable product in 2021 while exploring global client interest for a pilot initiative."
With assets worth $1.3 trillion, according to S&P Global data on the largest banks in 2023, Deutsche Bank is the largest bank in Germany in terms of total assets and the ninth-largest bank in Europe.
The article mentions that Deutsche Bank's initiative to venture into digital asset custody marks a change in direction for the bank. In a 2021 research note, the bank described the value of Bitcoin as being "entirely based on wishful thinking."