The German Sparkasse is planning to allow its customers to invest in major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) directly from their checking accounts.
The bank is working on a pilot project to launch its own digital wallet and exchange next year.
While the pilot program must be approved by the savings bank board early next year, the banking association is targeting the development of related services for early 2022.
According to Capital, various Sparkassen have already shown strong interest in crypto trading. However, each of the 370 branches can decide whether or not to recommend crypto trading.
Germany has become one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. Earlier this year, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority granted Coinbase’s German arm a license to conduct crypto custody business. It has since also placed more than 20 crypto trading products on Xetra.