According to a report from Reuters, Deutsche Bank has partnered with Swiss crypto firm Taurus to provide custody services for institutional clients' cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets, Taurus said in a statement on Thursday.
According to a report from Cointelegraph, Deutsche was one of several companies that invested in a $65 million Series B fundraising round for Taurus in February 2023.
Founded in Switzerland in 2018, Taurus’s Series B round was led by Credit Suisse and encompassed the involvement of Deutsche Bank alongside Arab Bank Switzerland, indicating major interest from traditional finance banks.
According to Taurus co-founder Lamine Brahimi, the partnership underwent a “thorough and very detailed” due diligence process before the German bank decided to use its infrastructure services:
“It started, end of 2021 and ended somewhere in 2022. We won the deal a couple of quarters ago.”
Brahimi confirmed that the agreement is global in scope, with Taurus providing custody and tokenization technology in line with local regulatory requirements.
The partnership signals Deutsche Bank’s ability to hold a number of cryptocurrencies for its clients, as well as tokenized versions of traditional financial assets, a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said.
Various banks, including Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon and Societe Generale, offer crypto custody services.
"As the digital asset space is expected to encompass trillions of dollars of assets, it's bound to be seen as one of the priorities for investors and corporations alike," said Paul Maley, Deutsche Bank's global head of securities services.
"Our focus is not just on cryptocurrencies, but supporting our clients in the overall digital assets ecosystem," Maley added.
The announcement of its Series B round also clearly outlined Taurus’ aim to serve “tier 1” banks in Europe. Brahimi also told Cointelegraph that the platform serves close to 30 banks, with most deals going “beyond cryptocurrencies, " including the tokenization of equity, debt, and other products.
U.S. regulators have warned banks to be on guard for liquidity risks from crypto-related clients.
Maley said Deutsche Bank is proceeding "cautiously and in line with the spirit and the letter of the regulations governing this asset class."
"Our product design, and the nature of custody for clients, will make sure that there isn’t the risk of contaminating the bank’s other activities," he said.
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