Germany

Germany

Blockchain Fintech Firm Bitbond Joins German Bank Association Bankenverband

The Berlin-based fintech firm announced Tuesday it joined the association for private banks in Germany.

News  ·  21 July 2020
Regulation

FATF Under Germany: Expand Digital AML/CTF Efforts

Dr. Marcus Pleyer has outlined the objectives for his next two years as president of the global AML watchdog.

News  ·  7 July 2020
Regulation

German Regulator Had Just 1 Person Checking Wirecard’s $3.1B Books: Report

Germany's finance and accounting agencies seem to have missed their chance to spot a $2.1 billion black hole in Wirecard's accounts.

Policy & regulation  ·  3 July 2020
Europe

Germany’s Neufund Shuts Down Security Token Platform, Saying BaFin Failed to Act

Citing regulatory concerns, Berlin-based security token startup Neufund has announced plans to freeze its fundraising campaigns and sideline future tokenized equity offerings.

Policy & regulation  ·  22 June 2020
Banking

Germany’s Crypto Custody Law Hits a Snag: Startups Can’t Get Bank Accounts

Even though the crypto custody law falls under the German banking act, German banks are hesitant to give crypto firms bank accounts.

Business  ·  7 April 2020
Coronavirus

German Startup Pitches Decentralized ID for Prescription Pickup During COVID-19

Coronavirus drove blockchain startup Spherity to develop a decentralized ID prototype for interacting with healthcare providers and pharmacies.

Business  ·  30 March 2020
Germany

Boerse Stuttgart Subsidiary Launching Institutional Crypto Custody Services

Blocknox, a subsidiary of the second-largest German stock exchange, is expanding its crypto custody service to institutional players.

Business  ·  18 February 2020
Banking

German Bank to Offer Tokenized Securities Based on Stellar

One of the oldest banks in Europe, von der Heydt, is developing a euro stablecoin to facilitate private placements in securities tokenized on the Stellar blockchain.

Business  ·  11 February 2020
Regulation

Germany’s BaFin Clarifies Licensing Process for Foreign Crypto Custodians

In its latest guidance released in January, the regulator said firms already custodying digital assets for Germans would not be penalized for not having a license. Instead, they’d be grandfathered into the same protection that crypto custody firms based in Germany already have under the new law.

Policy & regulation  ·  6 February 2020
Exchanges

Crypto Custodians Grapple With Germany’s New Rules

While a grandfather clause allows crypto custodians to keep serving German customers without being penalized, those same companies are waiting on financial regulator BaFin to release final regulations around the law.

Policy & regulation  ·  26 December 2019
Cryptocurrency

German Bank Launches Digital Assets Unit to Offer Custody Products

Berlin-based solarisBank has opened a subsidiary to offer a white-labeled custody product to nonbanks interested in offering crypto products.

Business  ·  13 December 2019
Regulation

German Regulator Orders ‘KaratGold Coin’ Issuer to Cease Operations

Two more governments have taken action against entities in the Karatbars ecosystem over sales of a purportedly gold-backed cryptocurrency.

Markets  ·  15 November 2019
Europe

German Finance Minister Supports Digital Euro, But ‘Very Critical’ of Libra

Speaking on a possible e-euro, minister Olaf Scholz said Germany "should not leave the field to China, Russia, the U.S. or any private providers."

Policy & regulation  ·  7 October 2019
Europe

Former NiceHash CTO Arrested in Germany Over US Hacking Charges

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to extradite the alleged hacker over crimes he's already served time for in Slovenia.

Policy & regulation  ·  2 October 2019
Bitcoin

This Crypto-Savvy Bank Is Building Bandwidth for Bitcoin Retail Payments

The German bank is set to help European retailers accept bitcoin payments in early 2020.

Business  ·  1 October 2019