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Deutsche Bank partners with Bitpanda for a “cautious” cryptocurrency exchange
(Corrects to show that Bitpanda is a broker (not an exchange), in paragraphs 1 and 12)
By Elizabeth Howcroft
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank will work with Bitpanda to process customer deposits and withdrawals for the Austrian cryptocurrency broker, the companies told Reuters.
The cryptocurrency industry has already struggled to find banking partners, particularly after the 2023 collapse of Silvergate Capital Corp, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, which had a high concentration of cryptocurrency-related clients.
But in the latest sign of the cryptocurrency world moving closer to traditional finance, Deutsche will provide Bitpanda users in Germany with local bank account numbers.
This means that fiat currency deposits or withdrawals from Bitpanda will go through the largest German bank. Some banks do not allow customers to transfer funds to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Vienna-based Bitpanda, founded in 2014, says it has more than 4 million users and offers products including fractional shares, cryptocurrencies and precious metals.
Regulators have expressed concern that cryptocurrency market disruptions will spill over into traditional finance as ties between the two deepen, even as analysts say connectivity between them remains limited.
Deutsche’s global head of cash management, Ole Matthiessen, said it had taken a “very cautious” approach.
“We only work with very selective partners and customers who demonstrate robust compliance processes, operate in a regulated environment and meet our high expectations from a risk perspective,” Matthiessen said in email comments.
Deutsche is not involved in transferring any cryptocurrency through the Bitpanda deal, but instead helps customers transfer in and out of their wallet while supporting Bitpanda’s treasury and payment processes, Matthiessen said.
Kilian Thalhammer, global head of merchant solutions at Deutsche, said it wanted to be “the bank of choice for high-potential platforms” in the world of virtual asset investing.
A Deutsche spokesperson said the bank has a similar partnership with Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Hashkey, but that Bitpanda is the first such customer in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Bitpanda is already a corporate client of Deutsche in Austria and Spain, but these are not client-facing, a spokesperson for the broker said.
(This story has been corrected to show that Bitpanda is a broker, not an exchange, in paragraphs 1 and 12)
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Alexander Smith)