Bitcoin Group SE has fully acquired the The Tremmel Investment bank for an undisclosed amount. Bitcoin Group SE operates German’s only regulated cryptocurrency exchange platform Bitcoin Deutschland AG. The exchange permits trading in Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum (ETH) with plans underway to list more assets.
Custody banking
Bitcoin Group SE hopes to introduce custody banking to the investment bank that according to its website deals in securities trading on behalf of other interested institutions. When the acquisition is settled, probably in the first quarter of 2019, Bitcoin Group SE will seek to obtain authorities’ approval to use Tremmel’s banking license to carry out crypto-related activities.
Tremmel’s banking license rights
According to the company’s press release, acquiring the rights to use the banking license for cryptocurrency-related activities will help it; “[…] issue its own cryptocurrency products, carry out proprietary trading in cryptocurrencies, and operate cryptocurrency ATMs is now available under the securities service provider’s banking license.”
German’s stance on Cryptos ATMs
A German-court recently gave cryprocurrency providers the go-ahead to install cryptos ATMs across the country. The jurisdiction earlier vested on the nation’s top financial watchdog, Bafin was lifted through a court ruling which determined that cryptos are “not money.”
After the ruling, a Munich-based casino, Monte24 imported the first cryptocurrency ATM in the country from Austria. The Austrian government has been friendly with cryptocurrency; with favorable regulations governing the sector.
Management
Even after the acquisition deal is closed, Bitcoin Group SE will retain the bank’s current Managing Director Rainer Bergmann. This is an interesting move considering that the crypto-based company would need an expert in traditional banking to run the bank. Who better to pick than an insider, a former sole-owner of the business?
Tremmel is Bitcoin Group’s second acquisition this year. In the first quarter of 2018, the group acquired a 50% stake in Sineus Financial service Gmbh- an investment brokerage firm. The Group looks to leverage its partner’s knowledge in financial services to extend the same to the digital assets space.
The company is doing well in the stock market; it announced net profits of almost $4 million for the first 6 months of 2018.
