TheLandesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), the biggest state-backed lender in Germany, confirmed on Monday that it will begin providing cryptocurrency custody services via a collaboration with Bitpanda, an Austrian exchange.
The two companies have partnered strategically, whereby LBBW will receive infrastructure for “storing and procuring cryptocurrencies,” such as ether (ETH) and bitcoin (BTC), as well as “investment-as-a-service” access.
The member of the LBBW board of directors in charge of finance, strategy, and operations, Stefanie Münz, stated in a news release that “by offering crypto-asset custody, we are positioning ourselves with a clear added value for our corporate clients – while ensuring the highest security standards.”
“Bitpanda provides the necessary technical and regulatory infrastructure to offer our customers innovative and, above all, secure solutions in the area of digital assets.”
The first cryptocurrency custody services will be made available to corporate clients by LBBW and Bitpanda, with a market debut scheduled for the second half of 2024.
“Our business clients are requesting more and more digital content. We firmly believe that cryptocurrency assets will become a fundamental component of new business strategies. Jürgen Harengel, COO of Corporate Bank at LBBW, stated, “With the cooperation, we are building the technical and regulatory basis at an early stage to best support the individual crypto strategies of our corporate custom
ers.”