Boerse Stuttgart Digital has become the first German provider to receive an EU-wide MiCAR license from BaFin – a strategic milestone for the development of a Europe-wide infrastructure for institutional trading in digital assets. For Dr Oliver Vins, Chief Regulatory, Operating & Financial Officer at Boerse Stuttgart Digital, the approval marks the beginning of a new phase: As a regulatory pioneer, the company wants to provide institutional investors and partners throughout Europe with easy and secure access to cryptocurrencies.

MiCAR sets the framework for a standardised internal crypto market

MiCAR – Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation – sets a common regulatory framework for European providers of crypto services for the first time. A key element of this is the "European passport", which allows innovative market drivers with national licenses to operate for their customers in all EU and EEA states. Boerse Stuttgart Digital is making targeted use of this basis to expand into three countries:

France
Spain
Italy

While the market entry in France and Spain is still being prepared, it has already been completed in Italy since autumn 2023.

Compared to other market participants, Boerse Stuttgart Digital is a fully regulated infrastructure provider with many years of capital market experience. Dr Oliver Vins, Chief Regulatory, Operating & Financial Officer and part of Boerse Stuttgart Digital management team, emphasises the modular solutions along the entire value chain – from brokerage to trading to the custody of digital assets. The company benefits from the fact that it can draw on the established compliance and risk management processes of the Börse Stuttgart Group.

All-round infrastructure for institutional investors such as banks, brokers and asset managers

A lot has happened since the launch of the crypto trading app BISON in 2019, which is aimed at private clients, and the associated entry into the crypto market. Today, not only private but also institutional clients such as banks, brokers, family offices and asset managers benefit from the experience gained.

The technical foundations developed on BISON form the basis of many of today's solutions. "We have been operating our infrastructure for six years. We can also provide our institutional partners with all the features that we have developed in the retail sector for their own business - naturally enhanced with professional interfaces, reporting and compliance measures," explains Dr. Oliver Vins.

The retail market remains relevant but focuses on the DACH region. Nevertheless, the figures are remarkable: November and December 2024 were among the five strongest months in BISON history in terms of trading volume. The day after the U.S. election, trading volume jumped 500 per cent, and the number of active new users rose 350 per cent. BISON currently has around 925,000 active investors.

The institutional segment is developing particularly dynamically. Together with DZ Bank and six cooperative banks, a pilot project is currently underway in which private customers can trade cryptocurrencies directly via their banking app. "Currently, employees of the banks participating in the project are using our infrastructure for trading and cryptocurrency custody. The roll-out to the cooperative banks and their retail customers is planned for the second half of 2025," says Dr Oliver Vins, looking ahead: "We assume that many of the banks will decide to offer their customers the trading of cryptocurrencies."

Acceptance and application examples for the use of Boerse Stuttgart Digital infrastructure are growing not only in the DACH region and especially in Germany, but also internationally. One example: Italy's largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo recently processed its first Bitcoin transaction via Boerse Stuttgart Digital trading infrastructure.

More harmonisation in the market is needed

Despite the regulatory advances with MiCAR, these steps are not the end of the story. Individual areas such as staking or the tax treatment of digital assets have not yet been fully harmonised. In order to maintain the European pioneering role that has been achieved, the Chief Regulatory, Operating & Financial Officer appeals: "We must not rest on our laurels. It would not be the first time that Europe has built up a pioneering role and then lost ground to the USA."

In fact, there are currently signs of easing in the US, for example through a revision of the FDIC guidelines, which will make it much easier for US banks to offer crypto services. Politically, in particular – for example due to Donald Trump's crypto-friendly stance – there is pressure on Europe to remain innovation-friendly.

Crypto market has (re)earned its reputation

The reputation of the crypto market in general was long considered tarnished. Scandals such as the one surrounding the crypto exchange FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried in particular have contributed to this – but according to Dr Oliver Vins, they have also "consolidated the market". In his opinion, banks and institutions are now increasingly focussing on reputable, regulated partners in order to be able to offer their customers services.

When it comes to digital assets, they are mainly focussing on cryptocurrencies. The market capitalisation of all digital currencies is now over three trillion US dollars. Bitcoin alone accounts for almost two thirds of this. According to Dr Oliver Vins, its value lies in its technical scarcity, the network effects that grow with the number of investors and the trust in technology. Similar characteristics to gold can be observed: In both the classic and the "digital gold" Bitcoin, the price clearly exceeds the utility value.

At the same time, he urges clarification: "Cryptocurrencies offer not only pronounced opportunities but also risks. The risk-return profile is comparable to volatile technology shares or certain structured products." Regulated access via one's own bank creates the necessary security here.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital offers secure market access

Transparency, regulation and technical competence are therefore increasingly becoming the focus of banks and financial service providers who want to integrate cryptocurrencies into their offerings. Boerse Stuttgart Digital is observing a rapidly growing pipeline of financial institutions across Europe that are interested in offers.

Do you also belong to this group and want to provide your customers with secure and regulated access to digital assets and cryptocurrencies? As a partner to institutional players, Boerse Stuttgart Digital benefits from being anchored in a traditional financial group that can look back on 160 years of capital market experience.

Take advantage of our one-stop-shop solution and let's talk about how we can support you in your first or next steps in the crypto market!

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