105-Year-Old German Bank Readies To Offer Crypto Services

German finance stalwart DekaBank is preparing to offer crypto services to institutional clientele, indicating bigwig interest isn’t slowing

article-image

Shutterstock.com/Tobias Arhelger, modified by Blockworks

share

German lender DekaBank has tapped Metaco to head up its digital asset operations as the financial player looks to expand into institutional crypto offerings. 

DekaBank, which currently manages more than 360 billion euros ($390.9 billion) in assets, will use Swiss services provider Metaco for custody and capital market solutions, the bank announced Tuesday. The partnership is pending regulatory approval. 

Metaco, founded in 2014, specializes in institutional cryptocurrency custody and trading, as well as decentralized finance (DeFi) services. 

“Digital assets are a critical part of the future, a radical new way for how assets will be represented, from currencies to real estate,” Andreas Sack, product owner of digital assets custody at DekaBank, said in a statement

“Today we make another important step towards laying the foundation for giving our institutional investors and millions of people in Germany access to this transformational opportunity.”

DekaBank, founded in 1918, is the securities provider of Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, the largest financial services group in Europe.

Metaco has experience with the European regulatory system, DekaBank noted in Tuesday’s press release. Metaco “established itself as a leading technology provider to financial institutions and corporations in the digital asset ecosystem,” the release read.  

The Metaco partnership is not Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe’s first foray into crypto. In December 2021, the banking group confirmed it was working on a pilot project to allow customers to access bitcoin and ether directly through their existing accounts. 

DekaBank’s announcement comes shortly after Metaco revealed it would be partnering with Togg, a Turkish car company, on its mobility ecosystem built on the Avalanche blockchain. 

In any case, DekaBank’s native Germany has been known as one of the more friendly countries when it comes to crypto regulation, Renate Prinz, partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, wrote in a November 2022 blog

The country has some of the clearest guidelines on licensing requirements and token classification, Prinz said, allowing for investors and businesses to more confidently enter the space.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Judge Analisa Torres said the parties have not demonstrated that vacating her prior ruling is in the best interest of the public

article-image

Prediction markets have found a mainstream fit

article-image

Money for enemies isn’t fun, but crypto can be

article-image

Onchain SOL perps wiped $31 million, outpacing CEX volumes two days in a row

article-image

Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Senators Wednesday that the timeline on lowering interest rates is up in the air

article-image

Credit infrastructure DeFi protocol Grove makes allocation into a CLO segment “ripe for movement into DeFi”