DLT Finance, a trading and brokerage firm licensed by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), has announced a collaboration with the crypto arm SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) of the Swiss exchange to expand its institutional crypto services.
In this partnership, SDX will take on the role of custodian and staking provider, while DLT Finance's subsidiary, DLT Securities GmbH, will act as a fully embedded counterparty for brokerage and trading. The joint offering marks a significant step in the expansion of cryptocurrency trading and custody services for institutional clients.
Institutional trading offering
DLT Finance's regulatory-compliant trading and brokerage capabilities, combined with SDX's crypto custody and post-trade services, create an end-to-end solution for clients. Together, SDX and DLT Finance aim to provide banks and institutions with a streamlined path to regulated trading, brokerage and custody services.
"The partnership between SDX and DLT Finance is based on our shared principles of security, reliability and technological excellence. This newly established collaboration is an important step towards a secure and regulated pan-European ecosystem for cryptocurrencies and digital securities." - Marius Sewing, co-founder and board member of DLT Finance
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Increased competition in the DACH region
In recent months, there have been several announcements regarding crypto initiatives by established financial players in both Germany and Switzerland. Two weeks ago, Commerzbank became the first universal bank in Germany to receive a custody licence from BaFin. Larger rivals such as Deutsche Bank and DZ Bank have also submitted applications to the financial regulator, with plans to launch in early 2024 if approved.
Swiss cantonal banks also entered the race this year in August. While Luzerner Kantonalbank (LUKB) was the first to announce its crypto trading and custody offering, Zuger Kantonalbank followed suit in October. St. Galler Kantonalbank (SGKB) followed just one month later. This sets the stage for the launches of LUKB and PostFinance in early 2024. Jan Damrau, Head of Corporate Governance at Zuger Kantonalbank, mentioned in an interview with CVJ.CH that "more cantonal banks are likely to join the fray".