Gerald Podobnik, co-head of corporate banking at Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank, told Reuters on October 16 in Bangkok, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that the bank’s first digital asset custody service will launch in Germany “within weeks,” initially supporting $BTC and $ETH and serving institutional and corporate clients. After launching in Germany, the bank plans to expand its custody platform to Asian financial hubs in 2027.

Podobnik said digital assets such as stablecoins have created a new pool of value, and that banks need to offer clients tokenized or blockchain-related services alongside their traditional business. The bank also plans to help clients convert into and out of major stablecoins and explore support for issuing tokenized deposits, digital bonds, and other products. Public information shows that Deutsche Bank has already advanced along the relevant German licensing pathway for digital asset custody; these remarks narrow the expected launch window from “soon” to within weeks.

For Chinese-speaking readers, the key takeaway is that a systemically important European bank is turning Bitcoin and Ethereum custody into a formal product and has explicitly named Asia as an expansion target for next year—a sign that traditional finance is continuing to accelerate its entry into crypto custody.

#BTC #ETH #行情 This is not investment advice.