Savings banks and cryptocurrencies – getting closer

Cooperative banks are already further ahead in offering cryptocurrency trading for private customers: A pilot phase with six Volksbanken (Nuremberg, Würzburg, Hanover, Rottal-Inn, the Southern Palatinate, and the Westerwald) has been running since the end of 2024. DZ Bank, which provides the technical platform, expects the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken to be able to offer cryptocurrency trading to their private customers on a broad scale starting this summer. The vast majority of the 670 or so institutions had expressed interest in the service in the past.

The Savings Banks Association had already put the brakes on in mid-2022: "It is the task of savings banks to protect customers from incalculable risks," the DSGV stated at the time. "Therefore, the committees recommend that the institutions of the Savings Banks Finance Group not offer trading in cryptocurrencies."