Germany’s largest lender has switched on custody for bitcoin, ether and selected stablecoins for paying institutional clients in Europe, and agreed to explore tokenized products with its asset-management arm.
MoneyTurkey Crypto Desk | 11 November 2026
Key points
- Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday its Digital Asset Custody service is live for paying clients, less than two months after it announced the plan in September, Reuters and The Block reported.
- The service holds bitcoin, ether and selected stablecoins and e-money tokens, including USDC, EURC and EURAU, with the bank managing clients’ wallets and private keys.
- The bank also signed a memorandum of understanding with Deutsche Asset Management, the majority-owned fund manager until recently known as DWS, to explore working together in digital assets.
What happened
Deutsche Bank first said in September that it would offer digital-asset custody to corporate and institutional clients in Europe, subject to regulatory approval. On Wednesday it said the service had gone live, letting clients hold assets with the bank and transfer them to third parties without building their own custody systems.
The Block reported that the system uses warm and cold storage, hardware-based protection for private keys and transaction approvals involving more than one person. The bank worked with Swiss custody technology firm Taurus from 2023 to build its digital-asset custody and tokenization services.
“In the medium term we aim to deliver a fully integrated, regulated ecosystem that supports the custody, tokenisation, and settlement of digital assets,” said Paul Maley, Deutsche Bank’s global head of trust and securities services. The bank has previously told Reuters it wants to expand the offering to Asia.
The asset-management deal
The memorandum with Deutsche Asset Management is exploratory, and no joint product has been announced. According to The Block, the two will look at tokenized money market funds, crypto-asset exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and stablecoins, including custody, settlement and distribution on the bank’s platform. Manfred Bauer, chief product officer at Deutsche Asset Management, said the firm plans to launch a tokenized money market fund, The Block reported.
Why it matters
The launch puts one of Europe’s biggest banks into a market long served by crypto-native custodians. It follows a busy week for banks in digital assets: on Tuesday, Goldman Sachs, Citi and other banks committed $270 million to a bank-backed stablecoin venture.
Deutsche Bank has not disclosed client numbers or how much it holds in custody.
What to watch
- Whether Deutsche Bank adds more assets or extends the service to Asia
- A launch date for Deutsche Asset Management’s tokenized money market fund
- Moves by other European banks into regulated crypto custody
Related on MoneyTurkey
- Goldman, Citi Among Banks Putting $270M Into Stablecoin
- Crypto movers: Bitcoin near $74K as hot US inflation bites
For information only. Not investment advice.
Sources
- The Block: https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-11-11-deutsche-bank-goes-live-with-digital-asset-custody-service-signs-asset-management-deal-437851
- Reuters via CNA: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/deutsche-bank-launches-digital-asset-custody-service-6542456
- Deutsche Bank (September release): https://www.db.com/news/detail/20260916-deutsche-bank-to-launch-digital-asset-custody-solution-for-institutional-and-corporate-Clients
