German Stock Exchange Boerse Stuttgart to Provide Crypto Custody Through Licensed Subsidiary

Blocknox, a subsidiary of one of Europe’s largest stock exchanges, Boerse Stuttgart, has been licensed to operate as a crypto custodian in Germany. The authorization will allow the company to offer custody services for digital assets to institutional investors across the Old Continent.

Germany’s second-largest stock exchange and one of the largest in Europe, Boerse Stuttgart, will be able to provide European banks, brokers, asset managers, and family offices with both trading and custody solutions for their crypto asset offerings.

Its subsidiary, Blocknox, which is part of the Boerse Stuttgart Digital division, has received the final license for its operations as a crypto custodian from the Bundesrepublik’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin), a press release revealed.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital is the stock market’s brand for all activities in the field of cryptocurrencies. Through the unit, Boerse Stuttgart Group is able to offer institutional partners various solutions for accessing, trading as well as keeping cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients. The exchange noted:

A high six-digit number of end customers are already benefiting from excellent liquidity today.

According to Matthias Voelkel, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group, the license allows the company to become a fully regulated, one-stop shop for brokerage, trading and custody of digital assets. “This makes us the infrastructure partner of choice for banks, brokers, asset managers and family offices,” he elaborated.

Reliability, stability and transparency form the basis for functioning crypto markets, added Oliver Vins, managing director of Boerse Stuttgart Digital and Blocknox. He believes that the Bafin license asserts Boerse Stuttgart’s role as a provider of secure access to the growing market for digital assets.

Crypto custody services were legalized in Germany in January 2020. Companies that want to provide them are required to obtain a special permit. In February of that year, Boerse Stuttgart announced that Blocknox intends to offer such services to institutional clients. The subsidiary applied for regulatory approval and was initially granted the provisional status of a regulated financial service provider.

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