German banks gear up to target crypto market share in 2022

A number of major players across Germany are anticipated to make inroads into the crypto industry in 2022, as a crypto-frenzy takes hold following spezialfonds crypto trading green-light.

In a groundbreaking interview with the Financial Times, Maximilian Tayenthal – co-founder of N26 (the largest FinTech challenger bank in Europe with a whopping $9bn valuation) – revealed that following its exit from the British and American FinTech markets, the bank plans to double-down on its offerings to European customers.

“Should we have built trading and crypto instead of launching in the US? In hindsight, it might have been a smart idea,” Tayenthal revealed.

Specifically, the co-founder spoke of plans underway for the launch of a cryptocurrency trading platform in 2022, with a foresight towards expansion into a bigger equities exchange further down the line.

The decision formulates part of a strategic focus at N26 on securing European market share in the digital banking space, with nine million FinTech banking customers driving significant demand for increased access to crypto products as rival banks continue to extend their crypto offerings.

Sparkasse savings banks face vote on crypto

More than 400 Sparkasse (local banks) saving banks are set to vote on the introduction of a pilot programme which would enable the purchase of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) directly from checking accounts.

Leading German IT infrastructure provider S-Payment has already dedicated a team to the concept build-out and, with over 50m customers, a successful vote from the independent banks could drive sensational growth among German crypto holders.

With the ballot on the pilot expected to take place early this year, the Sparkasse wallet could become a staple of digital assets across Germany very soon.

Read more: German Spezialfonds approved to allocate 20% of funds towards cryptocurrencies