Deutsche Bank Partners With Swiss Fintech To Provide Crypto Services
Germany's largest bank links up with blockchain infrastructure firm Taurus to offer crypto custody and tokenization services.
Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest and one of the world’s leading financial institutions, is preparing to offer crypto asset-related services to its retail and corporate clients.
The bank, which manages over $1.3 trillion worth of assets, has entered into a strategic partnership with Switzerland-based cryptocurrency infrastructure startup Taurus to leverage its technology to provide crypto custody and tokenization services.
Deutsche Bank Partners With Swiss Fintech Taurus To Offer Crypto Trading And Custody Service
The move comes following Deutsche Bank’s participation in a Series-B funding round for Taurus back in February, where the fintech was able to raise $65 million. Major financial players like Credit Suisse, Pictet Group, and Arab Bank Switzerland also took part in the fundraiser.
Founded in 2018, Taurus is a crypto and blockchain infrastructure solutions provider that offers enterprise-grade services such as issuance and tokenization of digital assets, crypto trading, as well as custody and management of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
According to a statement published by Taurus co-founder Lamine Brahimi on September 14, the partnership with Deutsche Bank was secured after the company had to prove its worth by going through a year-long rigorous and meticulous due diligence process that evaluated it's performances between 2021 and 2022.
It Is Time For Traditional Financial Institutions To Take Crypto Seriously
Adding to Brahimi’s comments, Paul Maley, the global head of securities services at Deutsche Bank, said that the digital asset space was bound to be seen as one of the priority investment areas for investors as well as corporate clients. He stressed that it is time for traditional custodians to start understanding, supporting, and adapting to their clients’ wants and needs and take the initiative to enter the trillion dollar industry.
Deutsche Bank has been actively exploring opportunities in the crypto sector since 2020, with a general focus on crypto custody and trading services. In June, the investment bank applied for a license from Germany’s financial regulator BaFin for operating a digital asset custody service.
Deutsche Bank’s Crypto Adventures
This was in alignment with the plans of DWS Group - Deutsche Bank’s investment arm - to expand it's revenue model to include digital assets.
In January, DWS revealed that it was in talks to own a minority stake in two German cryptocurrency firms - Deutsche Digital Assets, a company that provides crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), and Tradias, a crypto market-making platform.
Similarly, in April, DWS announced a partnership with U.S.-based digital asset and blockchain service provider Galaxy Digital to launch “a comprehensive suite” of ETPs in Europe that will be linked to certain cryptocurrencies.
Just recently, Deutsche Bank Singapore published a proof-of-concept report for Project DAMA (Digital Assets Management Access), a platform designed to facilitate more efficient, secure, and flexible management solutions for digital funds in tokenized securities. The project developed in collaboration with Momento Blockchain is set to provide asset managers and their transfer agents, fund administrators, and custodians with a service to launch and administer tokenized digital funds with less effort and cost than what is normally required.
Crypto Is Fast Becoming An Integral Part Of The Financial Sector
Deutsche Bank’s link-up with Taurus is a milestone in the history of cryptocurrencies. With every passing day, it is becoming more evident that the integration of traditional banking services with cryptocurrencies is the way forward for the financial sector.
It is also a testament to the burgeoning Bitcoin and crypto markets which only a couple of years ago was considered “too volatile” to be a “reliable” store of value by the banking giant.