German Savings Banks (Sparkasse) Mulling Plans to Launch Crypto Services in 2022

Banking institutions specialized in providing savings accounts in German-speaking countries collectively known as Sparkasse are reportedly mulling the idea of floating Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) related services in 2022. According to local magazine Capital, the savings banks are working on launching a dedicated in-house digital currency wallet and trading platform as part of the primary plans.

The plans have been under incubation for quite some time and per the reports, the final step is pending approval from the Sparkasse committees early next year. Some of the members of the Sparkasse are already enthusiastic about the proposals and German IT service provider S-Payment is reportedly tasked with designing the concept for the project.

Following the proposed concept design, a corresponding pilot project is slated to commence afterward with each of the 370 banks that make up the Sparkasse exercising the decision to launch the crypto services or not. 

The move from Sparkasse is such a bullish one that complements the broad embrace of digital currencies by German authorities. The Sparkasse operates as commercial banks and collectively controls over 1 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion) in total assets under management. 

German Banks Propounding Institutional Crypto Adoption

The digital currency ecosystem has evolved greatly in the past year with many institutional investors now throwing their hats in the space with direct investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Amongst the many such investors include American electric vehicle company, Tesla Inc, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy Incorporated, and payment services firm, Square Inc amongst others.

A major trend that was ushered in in the past year revolves around multinational financial institutions that started offering crypto-related services to their clients citing increasing demand as a trigger. 

TheCoinRise reported earlier that the Switzerland franchise of the Spanish banking giant BBVA added Ethereum to its digital currency services which it floated back in June. 

Other multinational banks such as JPMorgan, Citi, and Goldman Sachs are also exploring avenues to take crypto-related services to a select group of their clients. Should the move by Sparkasse become mainstream, it will complement the move by German banks in general to back the mainstream adoption of the nascent asset class that has remained controversial for the better part of the decade.