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- In early 2022, the Sparkasse committees will vote on this crypto project.
- A pilot project will start with individual savings banks to arrive at a collective decision of whether or not to facilitate crypto trading.
Traditional banking institutions have started leaning towards the emerging crypto markets in big numbers. As per the latest report, German savings banks are working on a project that will allow their customers to trade in cryptocurrencies. These banks have been specifically keen on the top two cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
S-Payments, one of the top IT services providers has created a team dedicated to this effort. The information from “Capital”, “Finance Scene” and “Finance Forward” also shows that the Sparkasse committees will vote on the project in early 2022. If the project receives a go-ahead, the first version of the crypto wallet will go live later in 2022.
The project can also lead to a major development happening in the European banking space. The savings banks are market leaders among the German financial institutions with a staggering 50 million customer base. Thus, we can expect a massive influx of users to join Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. This has been a one-of-its-kind plan at such a massive scale.
Related: Germany allows institutional funds to invest up to 20% holdings in crypto starting next week
As per the early plans, Sparkasse customers will buy these cryptocurrencies directly through their checking accounts. Since the savings banks are directly facilitating this, it will provide an added layer of trust.
A phased rollout of crypto services
As the project execution by the German savings banks will happen on a massive scale, it shall happen in a phased manner. At the first, a corresponding pilot project will start with individual savings banks. By the end, each of the 370 institutes will independently decide whether or not to introduce the crypto trading facility.
This will be an outcome of the regional principles of the savings bank. A large number of banks have already shown interest in this project. However, the German Savings Banks and Giro Association have remained tight-lipped so far.
Banks are finding an urge to venture into the rapidly evolving crypto space as other private businesses pose tough competition. Financial payment giants and service providers like PayPal are already into this for a long time by offering trading services for top crypto such as Bitcoin (BTC). These players have been eating up the market share as a large number of users are demanding crypto services.
On one hand, traditional banks have the infrastructure ready to cater to a larger user base. However, they need to clear all the regulatory hurdles to get through it. As a result, traditional banking firms across the world are now warming up to digital assets.
A recent report shows that 1 in 3 Aussies prefer dealing with banks offering crypto services. Well, this clearly shows that banks have no option but to adopt digital assets in the long term.
