Deutsche Boerse to Launch Bitcoin and Ethereum Custody Services for Institutional Clients

Leading German exchange group Deutsche Boerse announces plans to launch regulated crypto custody and settlement services for its institutional clients. According to a Bloomberg report , Deutsche Boerse will launch the new services this year through its trading unit, Clearstream.  Features of the Offering  Notably, Clearstream will offer the services to its 2,500 institutional clients by next month, April 2025. The firm will initially support the two biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap–Bitcoin and Ethereum.  However, the Bloomberg report hinted that plans are underway to support other notable cryptocurrencies in the future. Clearstream will also expand its crypto-related services beyond settlement and custody to include staking, brokerage, and lending.  According to the announcement, Deutsche Boerse will offer custody and settlement services through Crypto Finance AG, a subsidiary of Deutsche Boerse. Recall that in 2021, the German exchange group acquired a majority stake in Crypto Finance.  Clearstream and Crypto Finance Execs React  Jens Hachmeister, Clearstream’s head of new digital markets, highlighted the significance of the new services in a statement to Bloomberg. According to him, the initiative aligns with the company’s commitment to creating a comprehensive brokerage, custody, and settlement platform.  Reacting, Stijn Vander Straeten, CEO of Crypto Finance, suggested that the initiative was driven by the growing demand for crypto-related services among institutional banking clients.  In response to this demand, he stated that firms commit as much as €5 million to develop in-house crypto services.    MiCA's Impact on European Businesses  The move comes as European businesses push to offer regulated crypto services to institutional clients following the implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).  This regulatory framework, implemented on December 30, 2024, aims to provide institutional clients with clarity and safety within the crypto space.  While many see MiCA as a positive step in global crypto regulation, particularly for institutional clients, some are concerned that its strict rules might negatively impact retail customers. Others suggested that the ‘strict regulation’ could potentially push smaller crypto businesses out of Europe.  However, some entities have ignored these concerns and obtained a license under the MiCA framework. In January, Boerse Stuttgart Digital Custody made history by becoming the first German-based crypto asset service provider to obtain a full license under this framework.  Meanwhile, Deutsche Boerse has continued to expand its footprint into the crypto market. After initially launching spot crypto trading for institutional clients earlier this month, these customers will now gain access to custody and settlement services through its official trading unit, Clearstream.