German Commerzbank Applies For A License To Provide Crypto Services

As the cryptocurrency market spreads across all parts of the world and across industries, banking institutions are facing increasing demand from customers to provide cryptocurrency-related services and investments in a safe and regulated manner. Commerzbank has applied for a license from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to custody cryptocurrencies.

A spokesman for Commerzbank said the bank will apply for a license to custody cryptocurrencies in the first quarter of 2022. This was first reported by the Börsen-Zeitung on 14 April. As of January 1, 2020, this license is mandatory for trading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). As such, BaFin is aiming for a more regulated cryptocurrency sector.

Commerzbank, which serves nearly 28,000 corporate clients and nearly 11 mln private and business clients in Germany, intends to offer its planned cryptocurrency custody services primarily to institutional clients. By applying for a license to custody cryptocurrencies, it joins a long list of institutions that are trying to get the license. According to the financial regulator, 25 license applications have been received so far, four of them have already been approved.

Image: Der Aktionär