Germany’s Biggest Banking Group Opens Crypto Trading

DekaBank introduced a crypto trading service on Oct. 19 for the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, described as Germany’s largest banking group with around 50 million customers, but only five of 339 Sparkassen currently offer it because each bank must opt in. The service, Krypto – powered by Deka, offers Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP and Polygon’s POL through a separate DekaBank account and will roll out gradually. It charges €0.99 per order plus an unpublished spread, and withdrawals are limited to four named custodians, excluding personal wallets. The launch reverses a June 2022 recommendation by German Savings Banks Association committees that Sparkassen avoid crypto trading for customer protection; the association’s board changed course in mid-2025.