Deutsche Bank Seeks MiCA License for Institutional BTC and ETH Custody

Crypto Custody & Institutional Crypto News

Deutsche Bank announced on Sept. 16 that it plans to bring regulated digital asset custody to institutional and corporate clients across Europe.

The service is expectedto go live before the end of 2026. Completion of the applicable regulatory process remains a condition of the launch.

BTC, ETH, and 3 Stablecoins at Launch

The bank expects to receive its license in October under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework, according to spokesperson Heinrich Frömsdorf. The initial offering will cover Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and three stablecoins: Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), EURC, and AllUnity EUR (EURAU). Deutsche Bank will hold clients’ wallets and manage their private keys directly. That removes the need for institutional clients to build their own custody infrastructure.

The custody setup relies on hardware-based key protection and multi-person approval requirements. Separate warm and cold storage environments will be maintained alongside backup and recovery controls. Selected external technology providers will handle defined technical components. Support for tokenized financial instruments is planned for a later phase, depending on client demand and the bank’s internal risk and product-approval processes.

Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank, said digital assets are “not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it.” He added that the bank sees them as “new rails that coexist with existing market infrastructures.” The target client base spans asset managers, hedge funds, custodians, brokers, sovereign institutions, and corporate clients across the bank’s Corporate Bank and Investment Bank divisions.

German Banks Push Deeper Into Crypto

Deutsche Bank’s custody plans date to 2023, when it partnered with Taurus and applied for a digital asset custody license in Germany. Bloomberg reported last year that Bitpanda and Taurus would both be involved in the 2026 launch. In June 2026, Sabih Behzad, the bank’s head of digital assets, said it was also weighing entry into the stablecoin market, including the possibility of issuing its own token.

MiCA reached full enforcement on July 1, and the regulatory <a href="https://xpertsstudio.com/cftc-and-sec-double-down-on-crypto-after-clarity-act-defeat/” title=”CFTC and SEC Double Down on Crypto After Clarity Act Defeat”>clarity it provides has accelerated moves across German banking. The Landesbank Baden-Württemberg began offering crypto custody in April 2024 through a partnership with Bitpanda’s institutional platform. DZ Bank received authorization from German regulator BaFin in December 2025 to operate its meinKrypto platform under MiCA. Deutsche Bank is classified by the Financial Stability Board as a Global Systemically Important Bank. Standard Chartered and BBVA already offer comparable services to institutional clients in Europe.

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The bank said the range of supported assets could grow over time. Any expansion would depend on client demand, regulatory requirements, and internal risk management decisions. Tokenized financial instruments remain on the roadmap as a second phase of the offering.

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