Commerzbank, a German universal bank and Volks- und Raiffeisenbank, a brand of cooperative banks, have unveiled plans to launch crypto services. The announcement by the two banks comes shortly after the German Savings Banks Association unveiled plans to roll out a crypto wallet.
Commerzbank and Volks Bank to launch crypto services
A publication from a local newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, unveiled the plans by Volks Bank, stating that the group was pushing ahead with determining whether it should offer crypto services. The bank is also looking into the different forms of crypto services it can offer to its customers.
This is not the first move that the bank has taken concerning digital assets. The bank had earlier unveiled its partnership with Deutsche Borse and Fintech 360x. The partnership was to help create non-fungible assets (NFTs) related to art and real estate.
“We are working intensively on the subject of crypto assets, i.e. on the safekeeping and trading of non-physical assets,” said a spokesperson from Commerzbank.
Announcement follows Sparkasse’s crypto plans
As aforementioned, the announcement by the two banks follows a similar statement from German savings banks that are now planning to allow their customers to invest in Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies.
The savings banks, collectively known as Sparkasse, are working towards launching a pilot program on a cryptocurrency wallet and exchange in 2022. A local publication noted that the pilot project will commence in early 2022 after approval from the Sparkasse committees.
A report from Cointelegraph quoted one spokesperson from this association who stated, “More and more consumers are interested in crypto-assets. One in ten customers of the German Savings Banks states he/she owns or has owned crypto-assets. Considering their expectations, the Savings Banks Finance Group has to look into crypto assets too.”
The crypto wallet will be launched in collaboration with S-Payment, a German IT service provider. The pilot phase will commence with individual savings banks, and later, the 370 banks under the association will independently decide whether or not to launch crypto services.
Sparkasse is a market leader among financial institutions in Germany, and this crypto wallet will have a notable impact on the level of crypto adoption in the country. The action by the two banks to join Sparkasse in its crypto endeavours could make cryptocurrencies more accessible to the German population and bring the vast majority towards the use of cryptocurrencies.
Your capital is at risk.
Read more:
