German savings banks enter crypto trading, enabling first institutional clients to buy and sell crypto assets directly via app

Germany’s Sparkassen banks officially entered the cryptocurrency trading market this Monday, a move confirmed to the media by the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV). The first institutional clients can now trade digital assets—including Bitcoin—directly via the banks’ official mobile app. The service is powered technically and operationally by Dekabank, Sparkassen’s securities services provider, while the Stuttgart Stock Exchange handles custody of crypto assets. Initially supported tokens include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Polygon. Trading fees are set at a flat €0.99 per order, and users are not required to open a traditional securities account—a pricing and access strategy clearly designed to compete with digital banks and brokers like N26 and Trade Republic.