DekaBank launches crypto trading for Sparkassen customers with 0.99 euro fee
Key Facts
DekaBank announced on 19 October 2026 the launch of a cryptocurrency trading service for customers of Germany's Sparkassen savings banks, allowing them to buy and sell digital assets with custody provided by the bank. The bank said in its launch statement that the service would be introduced gradually over the coming months, with each local bank deciding independently whether to offer it. Available assets include Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, according to the list of currencies DekaBank published in the offering details. The list also includes Solana and the Polygon network's POL token among the assets supported at launch. Customers do not need a securities custody account to use the offering, according to the statement, making that separate from the requirements for opening the cryptocurrency service.
DekaBank set the execution fee for each buy or sell order at 0.99 euros, according to its cryptocurrency pricing schedule. A bank-specific spread is added to the market reference price, alongside the transaction execution fee listed in the schedule. The maximum size of a single buy or sell order is 250 thousand euros, the cap applied to each transaction. The bank imposes no minimum order size for either buying or selling cryptocurrencies through the service. Holding assets in custody is free, according to the same schedule, which distinguishes between order execution fees and the cost of holding balances in custody.
DekaBank's published list of participating banks includes Frankfurter Sparkasse and Sparkasse Rottal-Inn among the local institutions joining the offering. It also includes Niederrheinische Sparkasse RheinLippe, Taunus Sparkasse and Sparkasse Karlsruhe, according to the list of banks participating in the service. Customers must be at least 18 years old, according to the bank's terms for dealing in crypto assets. They must also have their sole residence in Germany, another eligibility requirement set out in the same document. The bank offers the service to customers who make their own investment decisions, with the service page stating that it does not include investment advice from their Sparkasse bank.
DekaBank holds private keys on customers' behalf as custodian, according to its description of the cryptocurrency custody arrangements. Assets are held in an omnibus wallet managed by the bank under the model it adopted to provide custody to users of the offering. However, cryptocurrencies held through the service are not covered by statutory deposit protection, according to the notice on the offering page. In that notice, the bank distinguishes between cryptocurrencies and bank deposits covered by the guarantee, despite the service being offered through a banking channel. On regulation, DekaBank said it obtained the necessary licence from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in 2025.
External cryptocurrency transfers are restricted to wallet addresses held with specified crypto asset service providers, according to the rules DekaBank published for the offering. The list of permitted recipients includes Crypto Finance Deutschland and Tangany, according to the document on asset delivery destinations. It also includes Boerse Stuttgart Digital Custody as one of the providers whose wallet addresses the bank accepts for external transfers. Bullish Europe is also among the permitted providers on the transfer list the bank published for service customers. Depositing cryptocurrencies purchased outside DekaBank into its custody service is available exclusively to institutional clients, according to the customer information document.
Boerse Stuttgart Digital provides cryptocurrency liquidity to DekaBank under the partnership linked to the retail offering, according to a statement from Boerse Stuttgart Group. The infrastructure partnership between the two sides for institutional cryptocurrency trading dates back to 2024, before the offering for Sparkassen customers. Marion Spielmann, who oversees banking operations and custody at DekaBank, said the internal infrastructure aims to retain the largest possible share of the value chain within the Sparkassen group. Describing that objective, she added: "We secure the largest possible share of the value chain," according to the group's partnership statement. DekaBank plans to publish its nine-month results on 17 November 2026, according to its financial reporting calendar.