Deutsche Bank confirmed on Sept. 16, 2026, that it plans to launch a digital-asset custody service for institutional and corporate clients later in 2026, with initial support for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and the regulated stablecoins USDC, EURC and EURAU, pending completion of regulatory processes.
The German lender said the platform will manage client wallets and private keys using both warm and cold storage environments, allowing clients to hold digital assets and transfer them to third parties without building their own key-management infrastructure. Security controls include hardware-based key protection, secure key generation, segregation of duties, multi-person approval for transactions, redundant systems and controlled backup and recovery arrangements.
The initial rollout will focus on clients in Germany, according to Bloomberg, and will target asset managers, hedge funds, custodians, brokers, sovereign institutions, corporates and companies working with blockchain technology. Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Bank, said: “Digital assets are not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it.”
EURAU carries a direct German regulatory connection. It was launched in July 2025 by AllUnity, a joint venture between DWS, Flow Traders and Galaxy, after receiving an electronic-money institution license from BaFin. USDC and EURC are Circle-issued dollar and euro stablecoins.
The bank cautioned that the five launch assets should not be viewed as a fixed long-term list. Future additions will depend on client demand, product approval, risk management and regulatory processes, and tokenized financial instruments remain on the roadmap after the initial cryptocurrency and stablecoin offering.
Deutsche Bank has been building toward custody for several years. In September 2023 it signed a global agreement with Swiss infrastructure provider Taurus to use custody and tokenization technology, and Bloomberg later reported that Bitpanda Technology Solutions was also involved in the 2026 buildout. The bank has also provided German IBAN and real-time payment infrastructure for Bitpanda customers since 2024.
On the regulatory side, the launch remains subject to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. For EU credit institutions, MiCA Article 60 allows crypto-asset services through a notification process to the competent authority, which in Germany involves BaFin and the Bundesbank. Deutsche Bank first applied to BaFin for digital-asset custody-related permission in 2023, and has not stated that all remaining regulatory steps have been completed, so timing, geographic availability and asset coverage may still change.
