Boerse Stuttgart Digital assists DekaBank in offering institutional crypto trading

The crypto subsidiary of German’s stock exchange Boerse Stuttgart will collaborate with local investment bank DekaBank to offer crypto asset trading for the bank’s institutional clients.

Boerse Stuttgart Group’s CEO Matthias Voelkel, even commented on the partnership, saying, “Partnering with DekaBank to offer crypto trading to its institutional clients underscores our commitment to providing financial institutions across Europe with secure and fully regulated infrastructure solutions.” 

Boerse Stuttgart will offer its regulated infrastructure to DekaBank

Boerse Stuttgart Digital will provide DekaBank with its regulated brokerage infrastructure. Once integrated, the exchange’s infrastructure will allow DekaBank to incorporate crypto into its offerings. The German stock exchange even claimed that with their brokerage solution, the bank could seamlessly provide secure and reliable access to crypto trading and help more institutional investors adopt crypto assets.

Earlier, DekaBank’s digital asset executive Andreas Sack had cited potential risks from regulatory disparities, describing how some countries regulate crypto more than others while others do not control any part of the trade. At that time, DekaBank had just partnered with Swiss crypto firm Metaco to develop a blockchain-based tokenization platform.

With its latest collaboration with Boerse Stuttgart, the bank seems more optimistic about the future of crypto trading.

So far, the investment bank has accrued over 411 billion euros, roughly $427 billion.

Boerse Stuttgart seeks more collaborations with EU banks

Boerse Stuttgart Digital Custody just received its full license in January from the European Union’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). In the same month,  the German stock exchange disclosed that its crypto trading business generated about a quarter of its cumulative revenue.

The exchange also revealed that its crypto trading volumes nearly tripled in 2024, marking a new yearly high. 

Boerse Stuttgart has about 4.3 billion euros, roughly $4.45 billion, in custody and plans to work with more European banks, brokers, and asset managers to attract more investors to the crypto space. In one of its LinkedIn posts, the exchange remarked, “There’s more to come,” referring to more collaborations with banks.

Fed maintains a neutral stance on banks’ crypto involvement

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr recently said that the Federal Reserve does not prohibit or discourage banks from providing banking services to any legal business, including cryptocurrency.

Barr gave a presentation on the Fed’s Novel Activities Program, which focuses on bank activities related to crypto-assets and nonbanks. Policymakers and crypto industry representatives have criticized banking regulators for allegedly pressuring banks not to offer services to the sector. FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill released agency documents, which he said showed that to be the case earlier this month.

Barr has previously disputed the allegation that the Fed is pressuring banks to shy away from crypto, and in his speech, he reiterated that argument.

“The Federal Reserve neither prohibits nor discourages banking organizations from providing banking services to customers of any specific class or type, as permitted by law or regulation,” Barr said. “It is up to banks to choose their customers, not supervisors. That has been and will continue to be our practice.”

According to Barr, the banks monitored by the Federal Reserve are essential to establishing support for the crypto industry. 

He said that such infrastructure is “the primary method that companies use to handle dollars and also to settle crypto-asset transactions,” and these banks have real-time, 24/7 payment platforms.

While the Fed monitors this activity to ensure safety, soundness, and financial stability, it does not prescribe whether banks should serve specific customers.

At the beginning of February, Coinbase Global renewed its call for U.S. banking regulators to clarify or revise their position on banks offering cryptocurrency services and potentially forming partnerships with companies in the digital assets sector.

The crypto exchange’s move comes amid a broader industry push to lobby lawmakers for a regulatory framework to support the sector’s growth. Most traditional U.S. banks have steered clear of digital asset firms, citing a lack of regulatory clarity.