Germany’s Sparkassen and cooperative banks plan crypto trading in everyday banking apps

Germany’s savings and cooperative banks are pushing ahead with retail crypto trading through their own banking apps, a move that could extend digital-asset access across institutions with roughly 80 million customer relationships. DZ Bank’s meinKrypto platform is already live in the VR Banking App, offering Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Cardano, while DekaBank is developing a comparable product for the savings banks with a phased launch later this year. Each bank and Sparkasse decides individually whether to join. The rollout marks a sharp reversal for institutions that had rejected crypto as too risky in 2021. The shift has been helped by the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, with BaFin licensing meinKrypto in late December 2025 and Boerse Stuttgart Digital providing custody under German supervision. The model keeps trading inside established banking channels rather than sending customers to external crypto exchanges. The expansion could help lenders retain younger, tech-savvy clients and make crypto investing more accessible inside familiar financial apps. But it has also revived warnings that traditional bank customers may not fully understand the risks of highly speculative assets. Even the savings banks’ own lobby group describes crypto as carrying the risk of total loss and says the service is aimed only at self-directed investors. The debate comes as Bitcoin trades near $62,483, about 50% below its October 2025 record of $126,080, underscoring the question of whether bank-backed credibility can hold up through the next market downturn.