Deutsche Bank Digital Asset Custody Goes Live After BaFin Approval
Key points
- Deutsche Bank's digital asset custody service is live following BaFin approval, covering Bitcoin, Ether, USDC, EURC, and EURAU at launch.
- Eligible clients include asset managers, hedge funds, brokers, and sovereign institutions within Deutsche Bank's Corporate Bank and Investment Bank.
- Deutsche Bank signed an MOU with Deutsche Asset Management, formerly DWS, to explore digital asset collaboration across commercial and technical dimensions.
- Deutsche Asset Management is a joint venture partner in AllUnity, the issuer of EURAU, one of the stablecoins already in scope for custody.
- Once tokenised instrument custody is added, Deutsche Bank's group would combine stablecoin issuance, a tokenised money market fund, and regulated custody inside one organisation.
Deutsche Bank has launched its digital asset custody service following regulatory clearance from BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. The service is immediately available to Corporate Bank and Investment Bank clients, a cohort that includes asset managers, hedge funds, brokers, and sovereign institutions. Supported assets at launch are Bitcoin, Ether, and three stablecoins: USDC, EURC, and EURAU. Custody of tokenised financial instruments is described as a later addition.
Simultaneously, Deutsche Bank signed a memorandum of understanding with Deutsche Asset Management, the majority-owned asset manager that this month rebranded away from the DWS name, to explore commercial and technical collaboration across digital assets. The language in the MOU is deliberately broad, but the existing corporate structure gives it a plausible shape.
Deutsche Asset Management is already a joint venture partner in AllUnity, the issuer of the EURAU stablecoin that Deutsche Bank now custodies. Executives at Deutsche Asset Management have publicly discussed tokenised money market funds as a yield mechanism for stablecoin holders. When custody for tokenised instruments eventually goes live, the group would hold stablecoin issuance, a yield-bearing tokenised fund, and regulated custody within a single corporate perimeter, a configuration few European institutions are positioned to assemble.