Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch a digital-asset custody service in Germany and is considering expansion into Asian financial centers in 2027, according to reporting by Cointelegraph. The plan reflects the bank’s effort to build a larger role in the cryptocurrency market as institutional interest and the use of digital assets continue to grow.
What Deutsche Bank is planning
Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank, told Reuters that the expansion is being driven in part by the growth of the digital-asset economy, including hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins. Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, often in relation to a traditional currency.
The custody service is expected to begin with support for Bitcoin, Ether and selected stablecoins. The named stablecoins are Circle’s USDC, EURC and AllUnity EUR, also identified by the symbol EURAU in the bank’s September 16 press release.
Crypto custody involves safeguarding digital assets and supporting the processes required to hold them on behalf of customers. For a major bank, such a service would connect established financial infrastructure with assets that are recorded on blockchain networks.
Regulatory approval and Asian ambitions
Deutsche Bank previously said it expected regulatory approval for the offering in October under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA. The European Securities and Markets Authority’s interim MiCA register subsequently showed that Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, had authorized the bank for the service on Monday.
The bank has not publicly identified which Asian financial centers it intends to target first. Cointelegraph said it contacted Deutsche Bank for clarification but had not received a response by publication time. The planned Asian rollout is scheduled for 2027.
Deutsche Bank’s custody initiative follows a partnership announced in September 2023 with Taurus, a cryptocurrency infrastructure platform. The arrangement was intended to support the bank’s plans for digital-asset custody.
Business context and Moneyiar market data
Podobnik linked the custody strategy to Deutsche Bank’s corporate-banking objective of achieving compound annual growth of 8% by 2028. The reported plans therefore place digital-asset services within the bank’s broader corporate-banking growth goals, rather than presenting custody as an isolated product launch.
Moneyiar market data at the stated times showed the following prices and performance:
- Comedian (BAN): $0.0538515682, down 2.8% over 24 hours and 11.48% over seven days, as of October 17, 2026, at 21:43 +03:30.
- REAL (ASSET): $0.1927052765, up 3.26% over 24 hours and down 2.28% over seven days, as of October 8, 2026, at 18:54 +03:30.
- Lorenzo Protocol (BANK): $0.0369242006, up 5.05% over 24 hours and 4.28% over seven days, as of August 19, 2026, at 02:59 +03:30.
- Incentiv (CENT): $0.0036503361, down 10.41% over both 24 hours and seven days, as of October 13, 2026, at 08:43 +03:30.
