What has been happening this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? Current events and background reports in our weekly review.
Selected articles of the week:
Germany’s leading banking groups are bringing crypto trading to the mass market. Up to 80 million customer relationships are affected, including 50 million at the roughly 340 savings banks and 30 million at the roughly 700 cooperative banks. The backdrop is the European MiCA regulation. DZ Bank received BaFin approval in late 2025 and launched the “meinKrypto” platform within the VR banking app in early 2026. There, customers trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Cardano, held in custody via Boerse Stuttgart Digital. DekaBank is preparing a comparable offering for the savings banks, initially limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The about-face is striking. Back in 2023, the savings banks association still rejected crypto assets as highly speculative. The change of heart is driven by competition for younger customers. In Germany, 38% trust their primary bank for crypto, and only 19% trust specialized platforms. Anyone without an offering risks losing tech-savvy customers, warns Westerwald Bank chief Ralf Kölbach.
German savings and cooperative banks bring crypto trading for retail customers directly into the banking app, under BaFin MiCAR approval.
Federal cabinet resolves to end crypto tax exemption
In Germany, policymakers remain active on the topic. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) wants to abolish the current tax exemption for private crypto gains. Until now, Section 23 of the Income Tax Act has stipulated that gains remain completely tax-free after a holding period of more than one year. In the future, crypto assets are to be treated as capital income, taxed at 26.375% regardless of the holding period. The cabinet approved the plans this week. SPD finance policymaker Jens Behrens provides the rationale. The aim is to treat cryptocurrencies the same way as stocks or bonds for tax purposes, rather than as commodities. However, revenue estimates vary widely, from EUR 100 million to EUR 3 billion. The prospects fortunately remain uncertain. The CDU/CSU has so far been opposed, and the coalition agreement does not address the reform. Particularly open is the treatment of existing tax-exempt holdings, as grandfathering rules are lacking. The law could take effect in 2027 at the earliest. For comparison: in Switzerland, private capital gains from crypto investments remain tax-free indefinitely, while the annual wealth tax applies instead.
Germany’s federal cabinet plans to scrap the one-year Bitcoin holding period and tax private crypto gains at 26.375% regardless of duration.
Saylor’s Strategy sells Bitcoin holdings for dividends
The US company Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, sold 3,588 Bitcoin for roughly USD 216 million this week. It is the largest sale since the company abandoned its “Never Sell” policy. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor attributes the move to the quarterly and monthly dividends due on the preferred shares. This is where the burden lies. The annual dividend obligation amounts to roughly USD 1.76 billion. The STRC dividend was also raised to 12%. The price is delicate. The sale was made at an average of roughly USD 60,000, while the cost basis stood at roughly USD 75,476. For the second quarter of 2026, an unrealized loss of USD 8.32 billion is on the books. Even so, the holdings remain enormous at 843,775 BTC – roughly 4% of the total supply.
Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin for 216 million USD to finance its preferred dividends for STRC & Co. – the largest sale to date.
JPMorgan warns of permissioned networks rather than Saylor
Of all parties, Strategy’s major creditor plays down the concern over these sales. US banking giant JPMorgan does not see Saylor’s Bitcoin disposals as the primary structural risk for the market. The research team led by Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou locates the real danger elsewhere. Institutional users are increasingly building their blockchain infrastructure on controlled, permissioned networks. Public, permissionless chains such as Ethereum are being bypassed in the process. Specifically, JPMorgan points to the tokenization of real-world assets, a market with a volume of roughly USD 50 billion. This is migrating to closed systems. Cited as evidence are initiatives such as the BIS project Agorá involving eight central banks, the tokenization by US settlement house DTCC, and the FINMA-regulated SIX Digital Exchange.
JPMorgan ranks Strategy’s sales below the bigger Bitcoin risk and names tokenization beyond public chains as the real threat.
Swift connects 17 major banks on a shared ledger
In addition: the described trend toward controlled networks is receiving prominent confirmation. Payment provider Swift launched a “Shared Ledger” this week, a blockchain-based system. With it, 17 major banks across six continents are piloting cross-border payments with tokenized deposits, around the clock. Confirmed participants include Citi, HSBC, UBS, BNP Paribas, and Standard Chartered. Technically, the system is based on Hyperledger Besu, developed with software company Consensys. The distinction from stablecoins is important. Tokenized deposits remain a digital representation of regulated bank balances, including deposit insurance and KYC checks. UBS manager Andreas Kubli describes interoperability as the decisive lever for making such deposits scalable beyond individual institutions. Swift connects over 11,500 institutions in more than 200 countries. Competition looms nonetheless. A US consortium led by JPMorgan and Bank of America is building a rival network via The Clearing House, planned for 2027.
17 banks across six continents are piloting cross-border payments with tokenized deposits on the Swift Blockchain Ledger 24/7.
