Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, is reportedly planning to allow its clients to store cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin next year.

Deutsche Bank plans to launch a digital assets custody service in 2026 in collaboration with the technology unit of Austria-based Bitpanda crypto exchange, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The crypto custody service’s development will also involve Deutsche Bank-backed Swiss technology provider Taurus, according to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter.

If confirmed, Deutsche Bank’s latest plans would mark the bank’s latest attempt to enter the crypto storage market, since it revealed such ambitions in 2020.

Heavy involvement in crypto

Deutsche Bank has signaled increasing interest in cryptocurrency in recent years

In early June, Deutsche Bank’s head of digital assets, Sabih Behzad, said the bank was considering entering the stablecoin market, including issuing its own stablecoin or joining stablecoin projects.

“We can certainly see the momentum of stablecoins along with a regulatory supportive environment, especially in the US,” Behzad said, adding:

“Banks have a wide variety of options available to engage in the stablecoin industry — everything from acting as a reserve manager, through to issuing their own stablecoin, either alone or in a consortium.”

Additionally, Deutsche Bank is also reportedly assessing whether to develop its own tokenized deposit solution for use in payments.

Not the first effort to launch crypto custody

Late last year, Deutsche Bank was reportedly developing its own layer-2 (L2) blockchain on Ethereum using ZKsync technology.

In 2023, Deutsche Bank said it planned to launch crypto custody options in partnership with Taurus soon after applying for a digital asset custody license in Germany.

Related: Crypto cards outpace banks in micro-spending in Europe: Report

Deutsche Bank has also previously worked with Bitpanda on improving crypto payments at the crypto exchange since at least June 2024.

Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to a request to comment when contacted by Cointelegraph. Bitpanda declined to confirm or deny the report.

The news followed another major German bank, Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, which on Tuesday announced plans to introduce crypto trading services to its 50 million customers.

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