The German Bitcoin Banking Revolution: New Law will bring Bitcoin 2020 into every German Bank!

December 3, 2019

Sensation: One of the world's largest and most successful adaptations for Bitcoin and Co. comes from Germany of all places! Those who predicted this 1 or 2 years ago were often ridiculed or declared completely crazy:

From 2020, all German banks will be allowed to sell and store Bitcoin and crypto currencies! The basis for the new legal situation is in particular the deletion of the much discussed "separation requirement", according to which the custody of crypto currencies and other regulated banking transactions or financial services could not be offered from the same legal unit.

GroKo strives for a pioneering role for Germany

After initial difficulties in dealing with the issues of Bitcoin and Blockchain, the grand coalition would now like to help Germany to become a pioneer in the new branch of the digital assets.

In order to achieve this, the previously clear legal separation between normal, regulated banking business and crypto business was abolished. While the custody and trading of Bitcoin and cryptos has always had to be outsourced to specialized partners or subsidiaries with appropriate licenses, this regulation will be history by 2020.

As part of the new law, the term "crypto values" is also defined for the first time in German law:

"Digital representations of a value that has not been issued by any central bank or public body" and "is accepted as a medium of exchange and payment or is used for investment purposes"

More legitimacy and upswing for Bitcoin and Co?

When all German banks can suddenly sell Bitcoin to their customers with a few clicks from 2020, this is not just a big step towards mass adaptation for Bitcoin and co. The new possibilities could give the entire German crypto and blockchain industry an enormous boost to finally enable competition on an equal footing with other countries.

In this sense, Bitcoin enthusiasts from Germany can look forward to more legal certainty from 2020, as more domestic services can be used in the future and fewer services from non-EU countries will have to be used.

So all in all very positive news that should make the German crypto community optimistic and some neighboring countries almost jealous! And so it remains to be seen with excitement when the particularly crypto-affine neighbors Austria, Switzerland and France will follow suit!