Deutsche WertpapierService Bank AG (dwpbank), a German securities processing giant, which oversees over 5.3 million securities accounts, has announced the launch of wpNex, a platform that enables over 1,200 affiliated banks, to offer Bitcoin (BTC) trading to its retail customers.
Going by a press release posted on the 22nd of March, through the new platform, users will be able to seamlessly trade cryptocurrency as they engage in online banking. A report by Btc-echo.de also says customers can assess their crypto holdings alongside their traditional securities via the newly launched platform, without necessarily funding their accounts.
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Financial planning advisory corporation MLP Banking AG has taken advantage of the opportunity to become the first to offer crypto trading to its customers. Paul Utzat, MLP Banking’s Head of Account and Securities Settlement, said that the service “will be available to all retail customers in the second half of this year.”
Moreover, DZ Bank plans to offer a Bitcoin option for its customers by the end of the year, which can be seen as a solid step for Bitcoin establishment in Germany as this institution is the second largest bank in Germany by asset size with around 8,500 branch offices in the country.
Patrick Hansen, EU Strategy and Policy Director at Circle, who reacted to the new development in a series of tweets, stated that the move is great news for the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC).
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Patrick Hansen noted:
“Great news for BTC adoption and access in [Germany]. Through its new wpNex platform, the dwpbank will allow up to 1200 German banks to offer Bitcoin trading – and soon more crypto-assets. The crypto holdings will be integrated into the customers’ online banking securities account.
“Just as with securities, the current fiat account at the bank can also be used for clearing, so no pre-funding is necessary. Accordingly, bank customers no longer have to go through an additional verification when opening their btc/crypto account.
“Further crypto-assets and tokenized securities will be added in the future. Accessing and trading bitcoin and crypto-assets can’t get much easier than that for people that don’t want to self-custody.”
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