Deutsche Börse, owner of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, says it will accelerate the development of its blockchain-backed D7 digital securities registry and build a trading platform for digital assets.
Deutsche Börse AG, the German stock exchange headquartered in Frankfurt, has included crypto in its strategic priorities for the next few years.
According to the strategic report “Horizont 2026”, published on Nov. 7, Deutsche Börse seeks “an expansion of the leading position in the area of digital platforms for existing and new asset classes.”
The company believes that, in the long run, there is “further growth potential from new technologies through the digitalization of existing or new asset classes.” Hence, it intends to accelerate the development of its blockchain-backed D7 digital securities registry and build a trading platform for digital assets.
Related: DZ Bank, third-largest German bank, to start crypto custody for institutional investors
The digital asset platform will serve only institutional investors and facilitate tokenization, trading, settlement and custody services for securities, alternative assets and cryptocurrencies. The presentation also mentions stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), although their status on the potential platform is not specified.
Deutsche Börse won’t be the first stock exchange to delve into digital assets trading. Germany’s second-largest stock exchange, Boerse Stuttgart, started offering its customers cryptocurrency trading in April 2022. London Stock Exchange Group is set to provide clearing services for dollar-denominated, cash-settled Bitcoin index futures and options contracts in 2024.
The Frankfurt stock exchange is in no way a novice to crypto. In 2021, its digital exchange, Deutsche Börse Xetra, listed the Litecoin exchange-traded product (ETP) from a London-based ETC Group.
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