Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) has partnered with crypto platform Bitpanda to provide “Investing-as-a-Service" infrastructure for corporate clients.

As part of the move, the German bank is working with Bitpanda to offer its clients a regulated platform for crypto assets.

It said that the partnership will allow its clients store and precure cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

It went on to say that the number of German companies that own or trade digital assets is growing, with custody of crypto assets becoming “increasingly” important as a basic infrastructure.

The service will launch with a pilot phase in the second half of 2024, with Bitpanda taking on the long-term role of technology provider.

"The demand from our corporate customers for digital assets is increasing,” said Dr Jürgen Harengel, chief operating officer for LBBW’s corporate bank. “We are convinced that crypto assets will establish themselves as a building block for further business models.

“With the cooperation, we are creating the technical and regulatory basis at an early stage to best support the individual crypto strategies of our corporate customers.”

The move comes after Austrian Bank Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) expanded its partnership with Bitpanda earlier this year to allow customers to trade digital assets via their mobile banking app.

The partnership between the two firms was first announced in 2023, making RLB NÖ-Wien the first major traditional bank in the European Union to move into digital assets.

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