Key Takeaways
- • Deutsche Bank is weeks away from launching its first digital asset service, a crypto custody offering in Germany, according to corporate banking co-head Gerald Podobnik speaking to Reuters.
- • The custody platform initially supports bitcoin and ether, then expands to services helping clients move money into and out of mainstream stablecoins.
- • Podobnik said the bank plans to extend the custody platform into Asian financial centres in 2027, after the German launch.
- • The move supports the bank's target of 8% compound annual growth in corporate banking by 2028.
- • Deutsche Bank also plans tokenised deposits and help for clients issuing blockchain-based securities such as digital bonds.
Summary
Deutsche Bank is weeks away from launching its first digital asset service, a crypto custody offering in Germany, Germany's largest lender said. Corporate banking co-head Gerald Podobnik told Reuters on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok on October 16, 2026 that the bank is pushing into crypto custody to tap growth in the digital economy.
The phased rollout will initially support custody of major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. It will then expand to services that help clients move money into and out of mainstream stablecoins. Publisher materials indicate the launch is slated for late 2026 and subject to regulatory approval, with initial support for Bitcoin, Ether and selected stablecoins including USDC and EURC.
After the German launch, the bank plans to expand the custody platform into Asian financial centres next year, Podobnik said. The expansion forms part of Deutsche Bank's broader strategy to achieve 8% compound annual growth in corporate banking by 2028. Podobnik, a 23-year veteran of the lender, cited the rapid growth of the digital economy, including hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins, as evidence of new pools of value.
Podobnik framed the strategy as additive rather than substitutive: "I believe that, as the financial system, we will need to offer tokenised or blockchain solutions to our clients as additional services alongside our traditional ones ... but not necessarily to replace what we are doing today." Deutsche Bank also plans to offer tokenised deposits and help clients issue blockchain-based securities such as digital bonds.
The phased rollout will initially support custody of major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. It will then expand to services that help clients move money into and out of mainstream stablecoins. Publisher materials indicate the launch is slated for late 2026 and subject to regulatory approval, with initial support for Bitcoin, Ether and selected stablecoins including USDC and EURC.
After the German launch, the bank plans to expand the custody platform into Asian financial centres next year, Podobnik said. The expansion forms part of Deutsche Bank's broader strategy to achieve 8% compound annual growth in corporate banking by 2028. Podobnik, a 23-year veteran of the lender, cited the rapid growth of the digital economy, including hundreds of billions of dollars held in stablecoins, as evidence of new pools of value.
Podobnik framed the strategy as additive rather than substitutive: "I believe that, as the financial system, we will need to offer tokenised or blockchain solutions to our clients as additional services alongside our traditional ones ... but not necessarily to replace what we are doing today." Deutsche Bank also plans to offer tokenised deposits and help clients issue blockchain-based securities such as digital bonds.
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