Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq to offer regulated crypto custody services amid growing demand

Boerse Stuttgart Digital stated that their services can be integrated by European banks, brokers, asset managers, and family offices into their own offerings

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Published: Mar 31, 2023 06:44:41 PM IST

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On March 30, Boerse Stuttgart Digital, the digital asset arm of the Boerse Stuttgart exchange group, declared that their blocknox service had acquired official licensing from BaFin - the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, to function as a crypto custodian.

As a result, the Boerse Stuttgart Group can now provide fully supervised brokerage, trading, and storage services for digital assets.

According to Matthias Voelkel, the CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group, the recent licensing granted to Boerse Stuttgart Digital makes them the first established market participant to have permission to hold crypto assets in custody without acquiring another company.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital stated that their services can be integrated by European banks, brokers, asset managers, and family offices into their own offerings. They have exchanges in Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, and also have an office located in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

In December, Bitcoin Group SE, which operates the bitcoin.de crypto trading platform in Germany, purchased Bankhaus von der Heydt. Bankhaus von der Heydt was authorised to provide crypto custody services.

In February, German asset manager DZ Bank collaborated with Swiss Metaco to provide crypto services, which also includes custody.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital has provided custody services through blocknox on a provisional licence since the introduction of crypto custody regulations in Germany on January 1st, 2020.

In the previous month, it started offering trading services to German residents, and in 2021, it launched a trading app. Boerse Stuttgart Digital was granted its final custody licence before several other competitors, including Binance.

Nasdaq, the global exchange group, revealed on March 24 that they intend to create a limited-purpose trust company that will provide crypto custody services under the guidance of the New York Department of Financial Services.

The announcement was made after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new regulations that will make it more difficult for crypto exchanges to offer crypto custody by broadening the rules that were initially developed in 2009.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash