Italian giant UniCredit eyes Commerzbank with German crypto ties

Partially state-owned $20 billion German bank Commerzbank has received acquisition interest from Italian lending giant, UniCredit.

Executives for the two European companies are meeting for initial discussions tomorrow in what could be a significant move to advance crypto in European banking through Commerzbank’s partnership with Deutsche Börse.

Specifically, a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse, Crypto Finance, is working with Commerzbank to offer bitcoin and ether trading for corporate customers in Germany.

UniCredit has not yet proposed a formal bid for Commerzbank. It has, however, increased its equity stake to approximately 21% and has applied for regulatory approval to increase it up to 29.9%.

The German government still owns a 12% stake in Commerzbank and has expressed opposition to the takeover. Certain members of Commerzbank’s board have also voiced opposition to the move.

The crypto impact of a UniCredit-Commerzbank deal

Commerzbank became the first German universal bank to obtain a crypto custody license under the German Banking Act in November 2023.

Crypto Finance, established in 2017, has four licenses from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority known as BaFin.

Read more: European Central Bank says crypto is dead, but is it?

The potential acquisition, merger, takeover, or otherwise of Commerzbank by UniCredit could advance unification in the European bloc’s famously incomplete banking union.

Specifically, the acquisition could ease ‘sovereign-bank loop’ problems in Germany by creating a cross-border banking entity less tied to a single country’s economy. Despite a shared currency, cross-border banking mergers in Europe remain exceedingly rare.

Its impact on crypto could also be significant, allowing Italian and German companies to access fiat on- and off-ramps for bitcoin and ether via a major banking partner with enviable licenses.

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