Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), Germany’s biggest state-backed lender, is set to launch crypto custody services in the second half of this year to meet increasing client demand.

The new services will be implemented in partnership with Austria-based crypto exchange Bitpanda.

Major German Bank Boards The Crypto Express

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and Bitpanda have entered into a strategic partnership that would give the federal bank “investment-as-a-service” infrastructure for storing and trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

LBBW’s move to partner instead of developing its technical infrastructure from scratch enables faster market entry. “Bitpanda provides the necessary technical and regulatory infrastructure to offer our customers innovative and, above all, secure solutions in the area of digital assets,” Stefanie Münz, a member of LBBW’s Board of Managing Directors, stated in the press statement.

The two firms plan to begin with a custody pilot during the second half of 2024. Notably, the forthcoming custody services will be available to LBBW’s institutional and corporate clients.

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“By offering crypto-asset custody, we are positioning ourselves with clear added value for our corporate customers — while guaranteeing the highest security standards,” Münz added.

According to LBBW, the motivation to launch crypto custody services was the surging demand for crypto assets from the bank’s corporate clients.

“The demand from our corporate customers for digital assets is increasing,” opined Dr Jürgen Harengel, COO of Corporate Bank at LBBW. “We are convinced that crypto assets will establish themselves as a building block for further business models. With this cooperation, we are creating the technical and regulatory basis at an early stage to best support the individual crypto strategies of our corporate customers.”

Bitcoin traded for $62,957 at press time after giving up some of its early Monday gains. ETH, the industry’s second-largest crypto by market cap, hovered just above the $3,095 mark.

Dampened investor sentiment around the newly launched Hong Kong spot Bitcoin and ether ETFs, coupled with geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, will likely pull prices lower until after the impending Bitcoin block subsidy halving.