DZ Bank Secures MiCAR Approval, Prepares Nationwide Retail Crypto Trading Rollout

DZ Bank, Germany's second-largest lender, secured authorization under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) from BaFin in late December. This approval enables the bank to roll out "meinKrypto," a digital asset trading platform for customers of Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken, the cooperative banking network.

The platform will allow retail clients to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies within the regulated banking environment, utilizing technical infrastructure from Atruvia and custody services from Stuttgart Stock Exchange Digital. The rollout follows a decentralized model, requiring each cooperative bank to notify BaFin individually. This move aligns with growing interest in digital assets within the sector, as a 2025 survey showed 71% of these banks were considering crypto services.

Furthermore, DZ Bank recently joined Qivalis, a consortium of 11 banks developing a regulated, euro-denominated stablecoin expected to launch in the second half of 2026. Both the meinKrypto rollout and the stablecoin initiative demonstrate the cooperative banking sector's broader strategy to integrate digital assets into mainstream finance under MiCAR compliance.

(Source：Bitcoin Magazine)