Key Takeaways
Deutsche Bank will initially offer bitcoin and ethereum custody to corporate and institutional clients, not retail customers.
The service will use hardware-based key protection, offline storage, and multi-person approval requirements to strengthen security.
The bank plans to expand into Asian financial centers, including potential markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong, in 2027.
What Deutsche Bank’s Bitcoin Custody Service Will Offer
Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch a digital asset custody service, giving businesses and institutional investors in Europe a new way to hold bitcoin and ethereum through a major traditional bank.
The German banking giant announced its entry into digital asset custody in September 2026. Now, Reuters reports that the launch is just weeks away.
Germany’s largest bank is also planning to expand the service into Asian financial centers in 2027. The move reflects growing interest among traditional banks in digital assets, including digital assets, stablecoins, and blockchain-based financial products.
The service will initially target corporate and institutional clients, such as companies, asset managers, hedge funds, brokers, and custodians. It will not be available to ordinary retail customers at launch.
The new service will allow eligible clients to store their digital assets securely while Deutsche Bank manages their wallets and private keys.
Private keys are the secret codes needed to access and transfer bitcoin and other digital assets. By managing these keys, the bank will allow clients to hold bitcoin and ethereum without having to build and maintain their own custody systems.
The bank plans to support selected digital assets and stablecoins, including bitcoin, ether, USDC, EURC, and EURAU. The exact range of supported assets may change as the service develops and receives the necessary approvals.
Deutsche Bank said the service is designed to provide secure, regulated access to the digital asset market.
“Digital assets are not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it,” said Gerald Podobnik, co-head of Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Bank.
He added that the bank wants to provide "a secure and regulated gateway to this evolving market."
The service will use several security measures, including hardware-based protection for private keys, separate online and offline storage systems, and approval requirements involving multiple people.
This service is particularly appealing to corporate clients, as it allows multiple parties within an organization to share control over digital assets rather than relying on a single individual. This approach reduces risk and provides a more secure custody model.
However, holding bitcoin through a bank does not remove all risks. The prices can fall sharply, and digital assets are not protected by the same deposit-guarantee system that covers eligible traditional bank deposits.
Deutsche Bank’s plans go beyond simply holding digital assets.
The bank intends to introduce additional services that help clients move money into and out of stablecoins. These digital assets are designed to maintain a stable value, often by tracking a traditional currency such as the US dollar or euro.
Podobnik said traditional banks would need to offer blockchain-based services alongside their existing products, rather than necessarily replacing them.
"I believe that, as the financial system, we will need to offer tokenized or blockchain solutions to our clients as additional services alongside our traditional ones ... but not necessarily to replace what we are doing today," he said.
The expansion is also part of Deutsche Bank’s broader goal of achieving 8% annual growth in its corporate banking business by 2028, Reuters reports. The bank has worked with Taurus, a Swiss digital asset technology company, to develop its custody capabilities.
It led a $65 million funding round for Taurus in 2023 and has since worked to integrate the company’s technology into its digital asset plans.
The custody service will also use selected external technology and infrastructure providers for specific functions.
The project remains subject to the completion of the applicable regulatory process. The bank has said its launch timing, geographical availability, and range of supported assets may change depending on regulatory requirements and client demand.
After launching in Germany, Deutsche Bank plans to expand the custody platform into Asian financial centers in 2027. Singapore and Hong Kong are among the markets identified as potential destinations for the expansion.
