Frankfurt Stock Exchange includes crypto trading facility in ‘Horizon 2026’ strategy

Deutsche Börse, owner of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, says it will accelerate the development of its blockchain-backed D7 digital securities registry and build a trading platform for digital assets.

Frankfurt Stock Exchange owner Deutsche Börse has included crypto in its strategic priorities for the coming years.

According to the “Horizon 2026” report published on Nov. 7, Deutsche Börse seeks “an expansion of the leading position in the area of digital platforms for existing and new asset classes.”

The company believes that, in the long run, there is “further growth potential from new technologies through the digitalization of existing or new asset classes.” Hence, it intends to accelerate the development of its blockchain-backed D7 digital securities registry and build a trading platform for digital assets.

The digital asset platform will serve only institutional investors and facilitate tokenization, trading, settlement and custody services for securities, alternative assets and cryptocurrencies. The report mentions stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, although their status on the potential platform is not specified.

Frankfurt won’t be the first stock exchange to dive into digital assets trading. Germany’s second-largest stock exchange, Boerse Stuttgart, started offering its customers cryptocurrency trading in April 2022. The London Stock Exchange Group is set to provide clearing services for United States dollar-denominated cash-settled Bitcoin index futures and options contracts in 2024.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is no novice to crypto. In 2021, its digital exchange, Deutsche Börse Xetra, listed the Litecoin exchange-traded product from the London-based ETC Group.

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