Germany's Largest Federal Bank LBBW to Offer Crypto Custody Services With Bitpanda

Germany’s largest state-backed lender, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), is set to offer crypto custody services through a partnership with Austrian exchange platform Bitpanda, the company announced Monday.

The two firms have entered into a strategic partnership, which would see LBBW provided with “Investment-as-a-Service” infrastructure to “store and procure cryptocurrencies,” including bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).

"By offering crypto-asset custody, we are positioning ourselves with a clear added value for our corporate clients – while ensuring the highest security standards," Stefanie Münz, member of the LBBW board of directors responsible for finance, strategy and operations, said in a press statement. "Bitpanda provides the necessary technical and regulatory infrastructure to offer our customers innovative and, above all, secure solutions in the area of digital assets."

LBBW, in collaboration with Bitpanda, will first offer crypto custody services to corporate clients, with a market launch planned for the second half of 2024.

"The demand from our corporate customers for digital assets is increasing. We are convinced that crypto assets will establish themselves as a building block for further business models. With the cooperation, we are creating the technical and regulatory basis at an early stage to best support the individual crypto strategies of our corporate customers," said Jürgen Harengel, COO of Corporate Bank at LBBW.