LBBW crypto: custody and trading for corporate clients
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) is the state bank of Baden-Württemberg, based in Stuttgart. It builds crypto custody and trading for its corporate clients and buys the technology from Bitpanda. Dated events are in the calendar below.
Bitcoin and ether for companies
LBBW announced the partnership on April 15, 2024. According to Ledger Insights, the bank planned a custody pilot for the second half of 2024 covering bitcoin and ether, with Bitpanda as long-term technology supplier of an investing-as-a-service platform. Jürgen Harengel, COO of LBBW's corporate bank, gave the reason: demand for digital assets from corporate customers was increasing. Börsen-Zeitung (in German) called LBBW the first German bank to build its crypto offer on Bitpanda's platform.
The offer is for companies, which hold crypto in their treasury next to cash and securities. The page on corporate treasury covers how treasurers handle stablecoins and tokenized cash.
Why a state bank studies crypto custody
LBBW Research published a study on crypto custody as a new service for banks on October 15, 2024. Its summary (in German) says crypto assets matter more to private and corporate clients, as an asset class and as a means of transfer, so the need for custody grows. It describes crypto custody as a building block of a future capital market infrastructure based on blockchains, and it notes that custody of crypto assets needs an authorization under MiCA, or in certain cases a notification.
A bank such as LBBW reaches crypto in two steps: a partner runs the platform, and the bank covers the regulatory side for its own clients. The page on MiCA Article 60 explains the notification route for credit institutions, and crypto as a service describes the partner model.
Bitpanda as technology partner
Bitpanda is an investment platform from Vienna that sells its trading and custody technology to banks, which use it to offer crypto trading in their own apps. It holds MiCA licenses in Germany, Austria and Malta, as the Bitpanda page sets out.
Other German banks chose other routes: Commerzbank holds the coins itself and trades through Crypto Finance, and DekaBank runs custody on its own infrastructure with Boerse Stuttgart Digital as infrastructure partner.
Upcoming digital asset events in Germany
Crypto events in Stuttgart
LBBW is based in Stuttgart, where Boerse Stuttgart Digital also has its seat. Finance Loop's pages on blockchain in Stuttgart and bitcoin in Stuttgart list the events on the topic in the city.
Investment & Digital Assets
Payments & Digital Money
Risk & Compliance
Does LBBW offer crypto?
Yes, to corporate clients. LBBW builds custody and trading of bitcoin and ether on Bitpanda's technology and planned a pilot for the second half of 2024.
Who is LBBW's crypto partner?
Bitpanda, the Vienna investment platform. It supplies the trading and custody technology, and LBBW keeps the relationship with its corporate clients.
Can private customers buy crypto at LBBW?
The offer LBBW announced is for corporate clients. Private customers of savings banks reach crypto through the Sparkasse offer that DekaBank builds.
LBBW crypto and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers crypto custody for corporate clients in its Investment & Digital Assets track and stablecoins in corporate treasury in its Payments & Digital Money track. Finance Loop runs events on custody and digital money in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg and lists the Stuttgart events on its city pages.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the adoption of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.