Crypto securities registrar

Since the Electronic Securities Act (eWpG) came into force on 10 June 2021, a German security can exist without a paper certificate, as an entry in an electronic register. The act has two kinds: a central register, kept by a central securities depository or a custodian, and a crypto securities register. An electronic security entered in a crypto securities register is a crypto security, as section 4(3) of the act defines it.

The law firm CMS summarizes the rules in its eWpG briefing on crypto securities (in German). Under section 16(1), the register must run on a tamper-proof recording system that logs data in time order and protects it against unauthorized deletion or later change. Under section 16(2), the registrar is whoever the issuer names to the holders; if the issuer names no one, the issuer itself counts as the registrar. The issuer can usually change the registrar without the holders' consent. Under section 20, the issuer publishes the registrar and the main terms of the crypto security in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

The eWpG added crypto securities register management to the German Banking Act as a new financial service, defined in section 1(1a) sentence 2 no. 8 KWG. A company that offers it needs a license from BaFin under section 32(1) KWG, as the Bayreuth chamber of commerce explains (in German). Because the issuer is the registrar by default, an issuer that does not name a licensed registrar takes on that role itself; CMS expects that in practice only some service providers will keep these registers. Compare this BaFin license with the other authorizations granted by BaFin.

On 20 November 2025, IT Finanzmagazin reported (in German) that SWIAT GmbH had received the BaFin license to keep crypto securities registers. SWIAT offers a tokenization platform for an open, decentralized financial market infrastructure and had worked closely with the custodian banks BayernLB, DekaBank, DZ BANK and LBBW.

The register records ownership; the token standard on the ledger enforces who may hold it. A standard such as ERC-3643 checks every transfer against an identity registry and lets an agent of the issuer freeze, force-transfer or recover tokens, which a registrar can use to correct an entry after an error or a court order. The payment for a crypto security is a separate leg. The payment settles together with the transfer only when the trade runs delivery versus payment, against an e-money token, tokenized deposits or, since 21 September 2026, central bank money through Pontes from the Eurosystem.

Gubbi AG, which runs the GDX Primary Market for digital assets, is a Premium Partner of Finance Loop and brings events and insights on RWA tokenization, the eWpG and compliant distribution. Finance Loop has a cooperation with 21X, the Frankfurt venue that trades and settles tokenized securities.

A crypto securities registrar is the entity that keeps a crypto securities register under the German eWpG. The crypto securities registrar records who holds each crypto security on a tamper-proof ledger and needs a BaFin license under the KWG.

Crypto securities register management is a financial service under section 1(1a) sentence 2 no. 8 KWG, licensed by BaFin under section 32(1) KWG.

Section 16(2) eWpG treats the issuer as the registrar when it names no one else to the holders.

A central register is kept by a central securities depository or a custodian. A crypto securities register runs on a tamper-proof recording system such as a blockchain and is kept by a licensed registrar.