Deutsche Bank is actively exploring tokenized deposit options and considering launching its own stablecoin, according to a Bloomberg report published Friday. The report cited an interview with Sabih Behzad, the bank’s head of digital assets and currencies transformation, who outlined the institution’s strategic approach to digital currency initiatives.
Behzad explained that banks have numerous pathways into the stablecoin market, ranging from serving as reserve managers to issuing their own digital currencies, either independently or through industry consortiums. While Deutsche Bank hasn’t yet announced its own tokenized deposit solution, the German institution participated in trials with UBS last year involving single bank tokens and continues evaluating whether to launch a stablecoin independently or join existing industry efforts.
The bank’s exploration comes as several major financial institutions have already moved into tokenized deposits. Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan and UBS have all launched single bank solutions, while Deutsche Bank has been participating in collaborative initiatives. These include the Partior cross border payments platform alongside DBS, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered, as well as multi bank tokenized deposit experiments in Germany through the commercial bank money token initiative.
Deutsche Bank already has some exposure to stablecoin development through its asset management division DWS, which partnered with Galaxy Digital and Flow Traders to create the AllUnity stablecoin joint venture. The bank has also expanded its services to cryptocurrency firms, positioning itself within the growing digital asset ecosystem.
The broader banking sector shows increasing interest in stablecoins, with Société Générale’s FORGE becoming the first systemically important bank subsidiary to launch one. Santander is reportedly considering its own stablecoin, Standard Chartered has announced development plans, and discussions continue around a potential joint stablecoin among US banks.
