Sparkasse crypto: bitcoin and ether at the savings banks
The Sparkassen are Germany's public savings banks, with about 50 million customers. After a long hesitation, their association decided to let customers trade bitcoin and ether in the Sparkasse app. DekaBank, the securities house of the Sparkassen, builds the offer. Dated events are in the calendar below.
The decision of the savings banks
The board of the German Savings Banks Association (DSGV) decided that the Sparkassen enter crypto trading, as biallo (in German) reported. Customers are to reach bitcoin and ether in the Sparkasse app they already use for their account. The Sparkassen will not advertise the product and give no personal advice on it. They call crypto highly speculative and plan clear risk warnings, including the warning of a possible total loss.
Biallo names the reasons for the turn: growing demand from customers, pressure from inside the group, the crypto plans of the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken, and MiCA, which gave banks a common legal framework for crypto assets.
How the offer is built
DekaBank builds the offer on behalf of the Sparkassen. A joint press release of October 13, 2025 (in German) describes it as an offer without advice for self-directed investors that covers trading, custody and the front end, with a start planned for 2026. DekaBank holds a crypto custody license under the German Banking Act and has traded crypto assets for institutional clients since 2025.
Boerse Stuttgart Digital supplies the crypto liquidity through its institutional brokerage. Most of the value chain stays inside the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, which was DekaBank's stated aim.
The rules a savings bank works under
A Sparkasse is a credit institution. Under MiCA, a credit institution can provide crypto-asset services after a notification to its supervisor, filed at least 40 working days before the first service, without a separate license; the page on MiCA Article 60 explains the procedure. Which firm provides each service decides who needs which permission.
The cooperative banks show one way to split it: for meinKrypto, DZ BANK holds the MiCA authorization for the platform, and each Volksbank that offers it files its own notification with BaFin. Every transfer of crypto assets also carries sender and recipient data under the travel rule.
Upcoming digital asset events in Germany
Crypto training for savings bank staff
Once a bank sells crypto, its service staff, compliance officers and back office need to explain the product, check it and book it. EXPERT KEY, a knowledge partner of Finance Loop, runs Web3 trainings for banks, savings banks and companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Finance Loop's masterclass Bitcoin for Investors covers portfolio fit, access routes and custody models for bitcoin.
Investment & Digital Assets
Risk & Compliance
Do the Sparkassen offer crypto trading?
The Sparkassen decided to offer bitcoin and ether in the Sparkasse app. DekaBank builds the offer, and the start was planned for 2026.
Who keeps the coins for Sparkasse customers?
DekaBank covers custody in the offer and holds a crypto custody license under the German Banking Act. Boerse Stuttgart Digital supplies the crypto liquidity.
Does the Sparkasse give advice on crypto?
No. The savings banks association decided not to advertise or actively sell the product, and customers trade without advice.
Sparkasse crypto and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers the crypto offers of German savings and cooperative banks in its Investment & Digital Assets track. Finance Loop's knowledge partner EXPERT KEY trains staff of banks and savings banks on Web3, and the masterclass Bitcoin for Investors runs in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin.
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.