European regulators may be getting riled about Facebook’s foray into the crypto industry but in Germany, another option has just been added for decentralized digital asset trading. Börse Stuttgart has just opened its fully-regulated bitcoin (BTC) trading platform in addition to an app for other crypto assets.
More Regulated Bitcoin Trading
According to reports, the Digital Exchange of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange (BSDEX) is the first fully regulated trading venue for crypto assets in Germany. Trading will initially be available to select clients but there are plans to open up to retail and institutional investors across the European Union as the platform grows.
The webpage of the new platform issues a stark warning to investors regarding market volatility and inherent risks.
“[Crypto assets] are subject to strong price fluctuations, so investors bear a significant market price risk. Even a total loss of invested capital is possible when investing in crypto currencies,”
There are already a couple of regulated crypto exchanges in Germany but this will be the first backed by a stock exchange. This will add a layer of authenticity for clients giving them more confidence that it is not another overnight operation.
Trading will be also offered through an app called Bison which was launched earlier this year. Investors can buy and sell BTC, Ethereum, XRP, and Litecoin with no fees through the app. The press release added that there is no need for a crypto wallet, only a German bank account. Bison will profit through a spread as other exchanges do when offering buy and sell rates for digital assets.
BSDEX CEO Dr. Dirk Sturz outlined greater ambitions in a statement.
“The market in cryptocurrencies is worth billions, and more digital assets will emerge on the basis of blockchain. Our goal is to build up the leading European trading venue for those assets.”
Börse Stuttgart partnered with SolarisBank on the initiative which will process payments and custody euro funds. CTO at BSDEX, Peter Großkopf, added;
“BSDEX will give retail and institutional investors direct access to digital assets and provide flexible and relatively low-cost trading. We believe blockchain is set to bring about significant changes in the financial industry, and we want to leverage its potential to create the trading venue of the future,”
BSDEX started its bitcoin trading services with the BTC/EUR pair on Monday and aims to add tokenized securities to the platform next year. It also offers a custody service for those wishing to leave their digital assets with the exchange.
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