German crypto asset trading platform Bitcoin Group SE buys bank with full license

Bitcoin Group SE, operator of the German crypto trading platform bitcoin.de, has announced that it has acquired 100% of shares in Bankhaus von der Heydt. The bank has a full banking license and is a provider of digital asset custody and tokenization services.

According to an announcement released Dec. 12, Bitcoin Group SE has preliminarily proposed to pay bank owner Dietrich von Boetticher 14 million euros and 150,000 shares. Subject to approval from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Bitcoin Group SE announced in October that it was in negotiations with several banks, including Bankhaus von der Heydt. Bloomberg reported at the time that privately owned Bankhaus von der Heydt had wanted to launch digital asset trading and custody services, in an attempt to regain profitability, but was unable to finance the technology needed on its own. The bank did succeed in launching a euro-denominated stablecoin, EURB, in 2020, but Know Your Customer regulations prevented the coin from being traded openly.

This is only the latest acquisition Bitcoin Group SE has made in the German banking sector. The group acquired futurum bank in a merger that was announced in 2018 and completed in 2020. Also in 2018, Bitcoin Group SE bought investment bank Tremmel Wertpapierhandelsbank, which was later merged into futurum.

Bankhaus von der Heydt was established in 1754 and is based in Munich. BMX Operations, a company founded by BitMEX executives, tried to buy Bankhaus von der Heydt in January, but the sides called off negotiations in March.

Germany was rated the world’s most favorable crypto economy in the third quarter of 2022 in a survey by Coincub. It was followed by Switzerland and Australia in the survey, with the United States ranking seventh.