Traditional banks are rapidly expanding into the crypto space.

DZ Bank, Germany’s second-largest bank by assets, is preparing to offer digital asset custody services.

The BaFin-regulated financial institution and custody provider has partnered with Swiss firm Metaco and orchestration platform Harmonize to support its upcoming digital currency product for institutional clients.

According to an official press release, Harmonize aims to provide a versatile governance framework with customizable risk and compliance controls that “fully isolate multiple business units and customers, ensuring segregation of policies, users, accounts, and assets.”

Commenting on the development, Nils Christopeit, Chief Solution Design Digital Custody at DZ Bank, said;

“In terms of security, scalability and future requirements of our digital asset custody initiatives for institutional clients, starting with crypto-securities under the German eWpG, Metaco Harmonize has proven to be a powerful solution that is fit for purpose and can support our envisioned operating model.”

Christopeit added that the platform was selected by DZ Bank through an extensive proof-of-concept and due diligence process and has proven to be a strong solution for the bank.

For the uninitiated, DZ Bank happens to be one of the largest custodians in Germany, with €297 billion in assets under custody at the end of 2022.

This is not the first time Metaco has partnered with a well-known German player. In fact, the digital asset service provider launched a blockchain-based tokenization platform in partnership with Frankfurt-based DekaBank last month.

Citigroup and Societe Generale are some of the other major financial institutions that have joined forces with Metaco to offer digital asset products to institutional clients over the past year.