German fintech company Solaris Bank plans to store cryptocurrencies

The German fintech Solaris Bank wants to help investors keep their Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies safe, and make them available to retail customers in addition to securities. Other banks are looking to replicate this service, but Solaris is probably best positioned to succeed.

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German Solaris Bank

The Berlin-based fintech Solaris is one of the first German banks to store cryptocurrencies and make them available to customers in addition to securities. With the changes in the new Money Laundering Act, which regulates the safekeeping of cryptocurrencies in a legally secure and safe environment, banks are trying to find novel ways to offer their customers new solutions. As such, fintech Solaris is attempting to develop a corresponding custody solution.

Blockchain penetrates into the banking landscape

The new Money Laundering Act allows banks to offer and store cryptocurrencies. From 2020, fintech institutions will be able to offer their customers cryptocurrencies, as well as traditional securities such as shares and bonds at the touch of a button in legally secure online banking.

Service providers can make use of the offer and infrastructure via an API-accessible platform. Solaris Bank has already made a significant contribution to the blockchain ecosystem in 2018, with the establishment of Solaris Bank Blockchain Factory as a banking infrastructure provider.

“We took our first steps in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry almost two years ago with the founding of the Blockchain Factory. Our vision, right from the start, was to provide blockchain pioneers with the banking infrastructure that they often need to close the gap between the fiat and crypto worlds,” said Michael Offermann, Managing Director for Crypto Banking at Solaris Bank.

The beginning of mass-market adoption

As digital assets already comprise a billion-euro market, the safekeeping of digital assets has increasingly become the focus of regulatory and legislative attention. Market participants dealing with the safekeeping of such assets in Germany must apply for a license from the local supervisory authority and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Accordingly, the company will apply for a license for the crypto safekeeping business in 2020.

“Digital assets will fundamentally change the way we share values. We see that there are still massive barriers to introducing compliant and secure digital asset services. The current infrastructure for digital assets is not customer-friendly enough for the mass market and is, therefore, inadequate overall. With this, we want to implement our vision of the broad use of digital assets,” said Alexis Hamel, Managing Director of Solaris Digital Assets.

Bitcoin price chart

The Bitcoin price is still caught in its downward slide. Recently, there has been a small stabilization in the $6,600 range. To generate a sustained increase, the price should move above $7,300-7,700. This could be followed by a return to the $10,000 range. Below the November low of $6,600, an additional sell-off wave towards $5,600 is likely to be possible.

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(Featured image by MichaelWuensch via Pixabay)

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