- The German Savings Banks and Giro Association wants to open up to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after years of abstinence.
- The savings banks want to make specific crypto offers to their around 50 million customers from mid-2026.
After years of reluctance, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe is opening up to trading in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Several media outlets unanimously report that the entire board of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association DSGV agreed on a new line.
Customers should have access to a regulated crypto offering via the Sparkasse app. DekaBank, the central securities house of the savings banks, is responsible for the technical implementation. But it will take around a year for the project to be implemented across the board. A start can hardly be expected before summer 2026.
€1.5 TRILLION GERMAN BANKING GIANT SPARKASSEN ANNOUNCES IT WILL SOON LAUNCH #BITCOIN BUYING
2026 – THE YEAR BANKS ADOPT BTC
pic.twitter.com/h6VnPL5J4u
— The Bitcoin Historian (@pete_rizzo_) December 27, 2025
Remarkable turnaround
As recently as 2022, the savings bank committees had expressly warned of “incalculable risks” and recommended that the institutions not provide any crypto offerings.
Now it is said that they want to “create reliable access to a regulated crypto offering for all those who make a conscious and informed decision to invest in digital assets”.
But despite the opening, the financial group maintains its critical stance. The DSGV continues to emphasize that cryptocurrencies are highly speculative investments.
Active advice or promotion of the offer is therefore not planned. Instead, customers should be transparently informed about risks – including the possibility of a total loss.
The savings banks are trying to achieve the trick of balancing the tension between competitive pressure and active investor protection for the benefit of their customers – and for their own benefit, because ultimately they will also earn money.
While the savings banks are now preparing for their late entry, other banks are already further ahead. The German Volksbank and Raiffeisenbanken have been offering their customers crypto offers since July of this year, in cooperation with the DZ Bank and the Stuttgart Stock Exchange.
Neobanks like N26, Revolut and Trade Republic have long had millions of young customers anyway. This is a trend that the savings banks perceive as a threat – and may have contributed to their change of heart.
Bitcoin in piggy bank
With around 50 million customers, the Sparkasse Finance Group has an enormous reach. A regulated crypto offering via the banking app that customers are familiar with should significantly simplify access for many potential new customers – and permanently change the market in Germany. Again: We are talking about 50 million potential new crypto customers.
But the savings banks have not yet completely jumped over their own shadow: Although there will be crypto offerings in the future, there will be no advertising for them. Let’s see how long this marketing paradox can last.
In any case, the savings banks are sending the signal: Bitcoin has arrived in German piggy banks – even if they didn’t want it there for a long time.
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