Deutsche Bank Reportedly Weeks Away From Launching Bitcoin Custody Service

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, is weeks away from debuting its cryptocurrency custody service, according to a Friday report from Reuters. The bank first officially announced the custody initiative for European corporate and institutional clients in September, noting at the time that the rollout remained subject to completion of the applicable regulatory timeline. According to the report, which quoted corporate banking co-head Gerald Podobnik, the platform will initially support custody for major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin before expanding to services that help clients move money into and out of stablecoins, alongside a planned expansion into Asia next year. The move follows commitments to direct crypto custody over the past 18 months from other major global banks including BNY Mellon, State Street, Standard Chartered, U.S. Bank, and Citigroup, while retail brokerages like Charles Schwab opened spot trading to eligible clients. "offer tokenized or blockchain solutions." — Gerald Podobnik, Co-Head of the Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank