Germany's Sparkassen banking group launches crypto trading in its app with €0.99 per-order fees, starting with five banks and expected to expand to 30-40 more monthly.
Regulation & Gov ·
Germany's Sparkassen banking group launched crypto trading in its app on Monday, with five savings banks participating initially and a per-trade cost of €0.99. Customers can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Polygon directly within the app without opening a separate securities account. The German Savings Banks Association indicated that 30 to 40 additional institutions plan to join each month, with a goal to onboard a substantial portion of interested Sparkassen by mid-2027.
DekaBank, the securities arm owned by the savings banks, operates the service under the brand Krypto powered by Deka. While custody carries no separate fee, each trade functions as a request-for-quote mechanism, meaning Deka supplies a binding price that incorporates an undisclosed spread atop the market reference price. Deka reserves the right to adjust pricing during large volumes or elevated volatility. Customer private keys remain held in a shared omnibus wallet, with withdrawals permitted only to addresses at four approved custody providers.
The rollout marks a reversal from prior caution: the DSGV's board had voted against a crypto offering in 2022 and faced committee pressure to avoid the sector in early 2024. The shift reflects customer interest and the establishment of MiCA, the European Union's regulatory framework for crypto-asset markets. Crypto holdings remain uninsured under deposit protection rules, and institutions will include explicit warnings to customers about price swings and total loss risk.