Germany-based securities house DekaBank has announced applying for a crypto custody license. DekaBank acts as the securities house of the Sparkasse and together with its subsidiaries it forms the Deka Group.

It gives private and institutional investors access to a wide range of investment products and services. DekaBank is firmly anchored in the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and gears its range of products and services entirely to the requirements of its owners and sales partners in the securities business. With total assets of EUR 363 billion and over 5.

2 million custody accounts, it is one of the largest securities service providers in Germany. Companies that want to store digital assets for third parties must obtain approval from BaFin before they can offer their customers a wallet. Deka currently uses a secure cold and warm wallet structure for its digital locker.

Now the securities house also wants to offer custody of digital assets to its institutional clients. DekaBank’s plans Since 2022, when DekaBank was permitted to perform the role of crypto securities registrar, custody for digital assets has been the next step in the security house’s development. It has already issued the first digital assets and launched a platform that forms the basis for the entire value chain from issuance and trading to the settlement of digital assets.

Custody forms another essential pillar in DekaBank's defined digital assets strategy. According to a DekaBank representative, digital assets are a key factor in keeping Deka competitive in the securities business. As stated by the DekaBank’s press release, the digitisation of the securities business has great potential and crypto custody is the gateway to the global digital networks, as well as the opportunity to shape the market for digital assets.

This allows transactions of various types of financial instruments to be processed from any location and almost in real-time. The Act on the Introduction of Electronic Securities With the Act on the Introduction of Electronic Securities (eWpG), a legally secure basis for digital assets was created, on the basis of which regulated products and services can be developed. Since the eWpG came into force, it has been possible to issue bearer bonds and investment fund shares in the form of crypto securities.

As a result, physical securities certificates no longer have to be generated, the issuance can take place directly on the blockchain, the process flows are shortened, and issuers and investors can interact more directly with each other. .