Chris Fernando 
Sparkassen, Germany’s largest banking group with approximately 50 million clients, plans to allow its retail customers to trade Bitcoin and other digital assets by summer 2026. This move, reported by Bloomberg on June 30, marks a reversal from the bank’s 2023 decision to not offer such services.
The German Savings Banks and Giro Association has confirmed the initiative. Customers will be able to buy and sell digital assets, including Bitcoin, through DekaBank, Sparkassen’s securities arm, using their existing banking applications.
This change reflects an evolving institutional view on digital assets within Germany’s traditionally conservative banking sector. In 2023, an internal Sparkassen committee had dismissed crypto as too volatile and risky for traditional banking.
Factors contributing to this shift reportedly include increased regulatory clarity, competitive pressures, and growing client demand. The timing coincides with the implementation of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which provides a regulatory framework for banks engaging with digital assets. Sparkassen can now build a compliant structure supported by DekaBank’s securities infrastructure.
Matthias Dießl, chairman of the Bavarian Savings Banks Association, indicated client demand as a key driver in an April interview with Bloomberg, stating, “Our clients are asking for this.” With other German cooperative banks, such as Volksbanken, already advancing into crypto services, Sparkassen faced potential relevance loss by not adapting.
Beyond Germany, other European financial institutions are also exploring digital assets. Standard Chartered, a global bank, recently obtained a MiCA license in Luxembourg to offer institutional-grade custody for Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), though it has not yet enabled trading. Similarly, BNP Paribas and Société Générale have expanded their crypto custody and asset tokenization experiments, but have not yet fully entered the retail market for digital assets.
Sparkassen’s decision highlights a broader adaptation within traditional finance in Europe, influenced by new regulations like MiCA.
