Deutsche Bank is set to offer its clients cryptocurrency custody services in collaboration with the cryptocurrency infrastructure platform Taurus. This move comes following Deutsche Bank's participation in a Series B round funding for Taurus in February 2023, where it was among a select group of investors that injected $65 million into the platform. Taurus specializes in providing enterprise-grade infrastructure for the issuance, management, custody, and trading of cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other digital assets.
According to Lamine Brahimi, one of Taurus's co-founders, the partnership underwent an extensive due diligence process before Deutsche Bank chose to utilize Taurus's infrastructure services. The evaluation process began in late 2021 and concluded in 2022, with Taurus ultimately winning the deal several quarters ago. This development aligns with Deutsche Bank's long-term plans to offer cryptocurrency custody and trading services to its clients, a strategy it has been developing for the past three years. The bank also applied for a digital asset custody license from Germany's financial regulator, BaFin, in June 2023, signaling its intent to provide clients with access to cryptocurrency markets and assets.
The partnership with Taurus is global in scope, and Taurus will supply custody and tokenization technology that complies with local regulatory requirements. Paul Maley, the Head of Global Securities Services at Deutsche Bank, stated that cryptocurrency assets are expected to grow into trillions of dollars, potentially becoming a significant focus for both investors and institutions.
In parallel, Deutsche Bank's asset management arm, DWS Group, has been in discussions regarding investments in two different German cryptocurrency firms: Deutsche Digital Assets, a provider of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products, and Tradias, a market-making platform.
Taurus, founded in Switzerland in 2018, has a compelling vision of serving Europe's "tier 1" banks, a goal that was reinforced during its Series B funding round, led by Credit Suisse and featuring Deutsche Bank and Arab Bank Switzerland as participants. This development underscores the strong interest of traditional financial institutions in the cryptocurrency space. Brahimi mentioned that Taurus serves nearly 30 banks, and many of the conducted transactions on the platform extend beyond cryptocurrencies, involving the tokenization of equity, debt, and other financial products.
