Deutsche Bank has just announced its plan to launch its digital asset custody solution this year, depending on how soon it completes the necessary regulatory requirements.

 

Making the announcement in a press release this Wednesday, the bank said the new custody solution will provide its institutional and corporate clients with secure and regulated custody services for their digital assets, with Deutsche Bank managing the clients’ wallets and private keys.

 

“Digital assets are not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it. We see them as new rails that can coexist with existing market infrastructures while benefiting from the trust, security and safeguards that regulated financial institutions provide. Our aim is to offer clients a secure and regulated gateway to this evolving market,” said Gerald Podobnik, Co-Head of Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank.

 

At launch, the custody solution will support only a selected range of digital assets, including Bitcoin and Ether, as well as a few stablecoin assets such as USDC, EURC and EURAU, with possible expansion to support more assets depending on clients’ demand and regulatory processes. Tokenized financial instruments are also included in the bank’s roadmap.

 

Security Measures to Protect Clients' Assets

 

To enhance the safety and security of clients’ assets under its custody, Deutsche Bank will implement multiple layers of security for the custodial solution, with the bank stating that these security mechanisms will operate under strict governance.

 

Among the various security measures that will be implemented to safeguard clients’ assets are secure key generation and hardware-based protection, segregation of duties, multi-person approval processes, separate warm and cold storage environments, and controlled backup and recovery arrangements.

 

As its initial focus, the custodial solution will be made available first to qualified Deutsche Bank institutional clients across Europe, including corporates, asset managers, hedge funds, custodians, brokers and sovereign institutions.

 

Circle Internet Group has launched the mainnet of Arc, its Layer 1 blockchain purpose built for money and financial markets, with BlackRock and Visa among the chain’s founding validators.

 

Announcing the launch in a press release this Wednesday, Circle said Arc was launched with native integration into Circle’s full stack platform, with more than 100 applications already built atop it and more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders, including global banks, asset managers, payment networks, exchanges, DeFi protocols, crypto wallets, and AI platforms.

 

Among the validators for the Arc chain are BlackRock, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Galaxy, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa, and Worldpay.

 

 

Describing Arc’s launch as Circle’s most significant launch since the launch of the USDC stablecoin, Circle Co Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said the Arc chain is the embodiment of what the Circle team has operated on for 13 years.

 

“Today we are switching on something the world has never had before: an open, neutral, always-on economic operating system for the internet, secured by some of the most important financial institutions on Earth, and built for a world where both people and machines transact.”

 

According to Circle, there are six features that set Arc apart from other chains: a chain gas fee denominated in dollars, which allows gas fees to be paid in USDC; sub-second finality, which ensures fast and instant settlement; opt in privacy, which ensures confidentiality of transactions; interoperability; agentic economic activity; and institutional security.

 

Alongside the Arc mainnet launch, Circle also released Arc Studio and Arc App Kits, which enable builders to create stablecoin native applications from scratch.

 

Arc Studio is an on-chain coding agent that turns ideas into implementations, enabling builders to create applications with market ready blockchain features faster, while Arc App Kits is a unified SDK that enables builders to add payments, swaps, on ramp, and other on-chain funding features to applications with just a few lines of code.

 

UniCredit, Italy’s second largest bank, is reportedly considering entering the crypto and digital asset custody market, according to a Bloomberg report.

 

Although UniCredit has yet to publicly announce its intention to offer crypto custody services, Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the bank is already selecting a provider to build custodial infrastructure that would allow it not only to hold digital assets but also facilitate their buying and selling.

 

In addition to custodial services, Bloomberg also reported that the bank is considering other areas of crypto, including tokenized investment products and fixed income securities, the use of stablecoins, and exposure to cryptocurrencies, as possible areas of expansion.

 

UniCredit’s expansion into crypto custody comes at a time when financial institutions are also considering expanding into the sector.

 

Just recently, Jack Dorsey owned financial technology company Block formally applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a National Trust Bank that would allow it to offer crypto custody services.

 

In August, Citibank also announced plans to launch a native Bitcoin custody service that would allow its clients to hold Bitcoin alongside traditional assets such as stocks and bonds.

 

While UniCredit has yet to officially issue a public statement regarding the move, speculation surrounding the bank’s plans to expand into crypto custody could be a significant development for the crypto industry if successful, as it would enhance crypto adoption, bridging the gap between blockchain-based finance and traditional finance.

 

Financial technology company Block Inc. has formally submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. (“Builders Bank”), an uninsured national trust bank.

 

If approved, the charter will enable Block to operate as a federally regulated national trust bank under the supervision of the OCC, allowing it to provide fiduciary and custody services for digital assets such as Bitcoin and stablecoins.

 

“Combining Block’s digital asset expertise, our experience with Square Financial Services, and the deep banking expertise of our team, we believe Builders Bank is well positioned to support Block’s broader vision of economic empowerment,” said Lee Woolley, who is expected to serve as president and CEO of Builders Bank.

 

Although the charter will not allow Builders Bank to accept customer deposits or make loans like traditional banks, if approved, it will enable the bank to operate as an uninsured, non-deposit taking national trust bank under the OCC’s regulatory framework.

 

Block’s application comes at a time when several financial institutions have made similar filings with the OCC to establish national trust banks.

 

Just last month, digital asset infrastructure provider Zero Hash applied to establish a national trust bank focused exclusively on digital assets. The application followed similar filings by fintech firm Dakota, Catena, and Payward in preceding months.

 

President Trump-backed World Liberty Financial and Sony Bank also recently received conditional trust charters from the OCC to establish national trust banks, while stablecoin issuer Circle was granted a New York trust charter.