The German giant seeks to offer institutional-grade storage solution with insurance-grade protection for digital assets.

Deutsche Bank AG, a German multinational investment bank and financial services company with headquarters in Frankfurt, has applied for regulatory permission to operate as a crypto custodian in Germany, a CoinDesk report said.

The BaFin license it wants to secure for itself would let the banking giant to run a digital asset custody platform to allow users to buy and sell digital assets through prime brokers.

It would also provide services such as taxation, valuation services and fund administration, lending, staking and voting, and more.

Deutsche Bank has been experimenting with the platform for a year or so in order to be able to offer institutional-grade hot/cold storage solution with insurance-grade protection, the bank said.

Its asset management group DWS recently entered negotiations to acquire a minority stake in two crypto companies – Deutsche Digital Assets, a provider of exchange-traded products, and Tradias, a trading firm.

Deutsche Bank first announced plans to become a crypto custodian in February 2021.