If the license application is accepted, the bank would be authorized to offer exchange and crypto-asset services.
Germany’s Commerzbank (CBK) applied for a crypto licence earlier this year, a spokesperson for the bank told local media. This would make it the first major bank in Germany to move towards crypto adoption.
Local media outlet Börsen-Zeitung said that a spokesperson from the bank confirmed on April 14 that it “applied for the crypto custody license in the first quarter of 2022.”
The application is to get authorization to offer exchange services along with custody and protection of crypto-assets.
Commerzbank is Germany’s second-largest listed bank and is partly owned by the government.
Germany had brought in a new law, effective Jan. 1, 2020, that would encourage German Banks to offer crypto services. The law required any business seeking to offer crypto services in Germany to seek a licence from BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
BaFin has received 25 applications for approval as a crypto custodian so far but has only approved four so far.
Commerzbank was not immediately available for comment at the time of writing.