Monday, December 13, 2021
Pilot project is being prepared
Savings banks plan to trade Bitcoin
From Caspar Schlenk
Some see the future of the financial system in crypto currencies, others see a speculative bubble. One thing is certain: Bitcoin and Ethreum have long since arrived in the establishment. The savings banks could soon also be part of it.
The German savings banks are working on a crypto project that will enable them to trade digital currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum in the future. A dedicated team at the IT service provider S-Payment is preparing the concept based on information from “Capital”, “Finance Scene” and “Finance Forward”. At the beginning of 2022, the Sparkasse committees still have to vote on the project. If there is the green light, a first version of the so-called wallet could be launched later this year.
The hitherto secret project would be a bang for the European banking landscape. With around 50 million customers, the savings banks are the market leaders among German financial institutions. Entering the market would allow the target group that can trade crypto currencies in this country to suddenly grow enormously. So far, other large banks have not dared to tackle the issue.
According to the plans, Sparkasse customers could buy the crypto currencies directly via their checking accounts. An advantage over the top dog Coinbase from the USA, where new customers first have to identify themselves. In addition, the savings banks want to play their trust as a brand.
A corresponding pilot project is likely to start first with individual savings banks. In the end, each of the around 370 institutes independently decides whether to introduce crypto trading or not. This is a consequence of the regional principle of the savings banks. However, it was said that the banks were already showing interest. The German Savings Banks and Giro Association did not want to comment on the plans when asked.
While in the past it was mainly special services that offered crypto trading, established payment service providers such as PayPal or securities brokers have also entered the market for some time. With the savings banks, a traditional player is now venturing into the new investment.
The prices of cryptocurrencies have recently risen sharply: if the value of a bitcoin was around 24,000 euros at the beginning of 2021, it doubled over the course of the year. At the beginning of December, however, the price collapsed again and has since lost around 30 percent. The prices continue to fluctuate strongly.