From 2020, the sale and custody of Bitcoin will be allowed to all German banks

[Twentyonepaylots]

German governtment is indecisive with cryptocurrency since most people consider cryptocurrency as an investment asset giving the authority to warm the public about its potentiality to make a negative outcome because of its speculative nature and high volatility. But I guess they were pretty sure this time, it might even boost their economy that may delete their negative interest rates.

Germany is sharing a currency with 19 other countries (the euro). Negative interest rates are here to stay regardless of how well the German economy does, because the other 19 countries arn't doing so well apart from the Netherlands.

One complication is that success in the German economy doesn't boost the eurozone countries, instead it boosts the non-eurozone countries that border Germany to the east (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary).

It's a design flaw in the eurozone that the constituent countries arn't properly aligned.

I still don't understand why flawed system is not yet on resurfacing. Negative interest rates feels so horrible, imagine earning money in a hard way but banks wants you to spend it easy just to avoid making banks to store it with negative rate. Good thing they already accepted the nature of cryptocurrencies, volatile and speculative. People from their country will now learn hw to invest than just to hold money on their pockets and banks. The best solution for now, isn't it?

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[el kaka22]

This must be one of the positive consequence of adopting European union's recent money laundering directives. It seems as per those directives, German laws now may start supporting cryptos as an asset. Still, European countries are not ready to declare bitcoin as a legal tender like how Japan did some 3 years back itself. I believe Swiss government may do that first among Europe countries.

Let's wait and see what are the consequences in crypto space, this news will trigger. This must be a huge positive step stone kind of news as it will encourage bitcoin to be considered as an alternative to gold in banking which means many people will know about bitcoins even they are sticking with traditional banking. I am just seeing clear possibilities for bitcoin to hit million dollar values in near future.

[fillippone]

It makes a lot of sense for a Bank to sell Bitcoin.

Yes it does, and I'm actually surprised that banks haven't started to do it yet. 

Banks cannot, touch bitcoin or anything barely relted to bitcoin. Even servicing fiat accounts to crypto proved something "challenging" for banks.
This was due to a sort of "moral suasion" from central authorities about crypto-related businesses.
Now things are starting to move in hte right directions, banks are now best oriented on the level of analysis required to handle bitcoins,  and regulaters are adoptin a more agnostic approach to the matter.
Hence more room dor action.

But here's the thing:

But why would make it sense from a customer point of view?

As a customer, I'm not sure I'd want to purchase bitcoin from a bank.  That would be almost as bad as buying it from the government.  They would obviously know where that bitcoin is going and perhaps even what it was spent on if they could connect addresses.  If you're not doing anything illegal, it wouldn't cause you any trouble but who wants banks or the government tracing your financial transactions?  They already can if you're using your debit card or checking account, but my guess is that if you spend bitcoin you'll be under a microscope.  Yikes.

Agree, but again, we are aldready tracked in every fine details; Bitcoin on the other hand gives you the options, once you buy it, to gain some privacy.
Using this option is up to you.
NOT buying this option, leave you with no choice.
I would say that for the general public, the one who need a bank to take care of their bitcoin, that shouldn't pose a major threat.

[YOSHIE]

This is one of the most bullish news I've heard recently:

From 2020, the sale and custody of Bitcoin will be allowed to all German banks

This can be said to be good news for Bitcoin users in Germany.
Yesterday I also heard unpleasant news for bitcoin users in Germany: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5203303.0
However, with the advent of this news, bitcoin will become the most important asset for the community in germany and can awaken the economic sector of the german people, very wise and positive.

[Willitivity]

Some pretty good news to lift the spirits high. Since after the Chinese government move on Bitcoin, other countries and lazily sitting up and loosening their tight crypto regulations. If this new development is well implemented, it means vey good for Germans and bitcoinners in general as well. 2020 seems to be having some goodies coming with it.

[Hueristic]

yes it is correct as I understand it too so far from the media news especial from the news I posted above.

the "Bundestag" produce the law and do approve it but further approval from the "Bundesrat" is needed which is not done yet but is expect to do it with no decline. "Bundestag" is central part of government and "Bundesrat" is de-central part of government from the states like the US have states but far smaller in Germany.  the US suckers didn't want to get Germany great again after the war so they forced us to establish a political system like theirs in this small country.  

Yup they definitely designed as system to keep the people from ever becoming great that's for sure. If your ancestors were smarter they wouldn't be shackled with the same system we are all in now.

[Sithara007]

Some pretty good news to lift the spirits high. Since after the Chinese government move on Bitcoin, other countries and lazily sitting up and loosening their tight crypto regulations. If this new development is well implemented, it means vey good for Germans and bitcoinners in general as well. 2020 seems to be having some goodies coming with it.

When did the Chinese government made any "moves" on Bitcoin? They remain extremely hostile to the cryptocurrency, and a few days back some of the government officials were talking about banning the activity of cryptocurrency exchanges inside mainland China (they are already operating under heavy restrictions). There was a statement from Xi Jinping regarding the Blockchain technology a few weeks back, but he never mentioned anything about Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. It will be very idiotic to assume that the Chinese government has suddenly become tolerant towards cryptocurrency.

[Mometaskers]

The good news about this is it makes it easier for people to get introduced to bitcoin since likely the bank salesmen are going to talk them into their new product.

I think the main positive here would be to help improve adoption but other than that nothing really innovative.

Pay to leave your money in the bank, or be your own bank and gain from a deflationary currency? The choice is yours!

Another question should be, keep your money in your own wallet or in bank account the government can freeze?

[EdvinZ]

A great move by the German authorities. Now the industry will come fresh money. Many Bank customers will be happy to use the new service, because they do not even need to install any wallets for cryptocurrency, because everything will be tied to their Bank accounts. Banks will ensure the safety of customer funds.

[rose9696]

according to the majority of people they would say this is a good move for them but I think this is a pretty bad move. because in my opinion commercial banks shouldn't hold too much bitcoins to trade because you know, the value of bitcoin is always very strongly manipulated. and to provide bitcoin hoarding and trading services, the bank has to spend quite a large amount. This is not a good practice for commercial banks in Germany. It seems negative interest rates are causing banks to be compelled to make money from the crypto market.

[fillippone]

If banks come into the market, then the market would inevitably become more regulated. Or better, the walled garden where banks can operate.
I don’t think commercial banks would manipulate the market more that today is. Bank adoption means bigger market, and bigger market means more difficult to manipulate markets (have you ever tried to manipulate the EUR/USD FX?

[El duderino_]

It makes a lot of sense for a Bank to sell Bitcoin.

Yes it does, and I'm actually surprised that banks haven't started to do it yet.  Granted, banks don't sell gold or stocks or other investments, but bitcoin is kind of a hybrid thing--an investment that's also a currency.  And most banks also offer some investment services, usually to their wealthier customers.  The only thing I can see that would make it not make sense is that banks are well aware of the criminal activities bitcoin is associated with and I'd think they might not want to be connected to any of that.

But here's the thing:

But why would make it sense from a customer point of view?

As a customer, I'm not sure I'd want to purchase bitcoin from a bank.  That would be almost as bad as buying it from the government.  They would obviously know where that bitcoin is going and perhaps even what it was spent on if they could connect addresses.  If you're not doing anything illegal, it wouldn't cause you any trouble but who wants banks or the government tracing your financial transactions?  They already can if you're using your debit card or checking account, but my guess is that if you spend bitcoin you'll be under a microscope.  Yikes.

However, I do agree that this is a bullish thing overall.  While I wouldn't take advantage of such a service, other people might--and I hope it works out in Germany and that adoption increases there as a result of this.

For sure its good and bullish news and more countries as banks will follow this....  for me personal, I wouldn't use it, but I guess new users will, though many OG users probably already using banks for safety to store their BTC... for people with some holdings it would already been logical to use bank vaults to have their BTC on a safe place.

Of-course I wouldn't like to purchase from a bank, but it will be interesting to see how banks are dealing with the sales of BTC, are banks gonna buy first and resale BTC and how much BTC would a bank buy to keep in storage and use to sell to clients?? How will banks store BTC and if clients want the bank to keep their BTC then where will banks store their clients BTC etc..... didn't read to much about this yet myself ...

[Hueristic]

The good news about this is it makes it easier for people to get introduced to bitcoin since likely the bank salesmen are going to talk them into their new product.

I think the main positive here would be to help improve adoption but other than that nothing really innovative.

Pay to leave your money in the bank, or be your own bank and gain from a deflationary currency? The choice is yours!

Another question should be, keep your money in your own wallet or in bank account the government can freeze?

i agree this is a move so the centralized bankers still can control your assets and therefore control you.

But it is a good thing that it adds legitimacy to those on the fence of whether bitcoin is safe.

[Harlot]

The other thing that I could see if this banks will be the first one to do it and literally all German banks will be accepting and also buying and selling cryptocurrencies I think that the rest of the businesses will follow their lead. I could see that commercial businesses will also step forward in accepting Bitcoin as a payment since what the German banks did can be considered as a big leap towards the industry as well as some kind of green light that the government is also friendly towards the crypto market. This will be counted as a big change for this country and I could see the ripple effect that it will create towards its neighboring countries and soon several countries who would have seen the benefit because of it.

[msarro]

That's good news but there are some conditions that banks have to fulfill prior to accept and trade cryptocurrencies. What are those conditions?

The new law will take effect January 1, 2020, though certain requirements must first be met through the country’s financial regulator.
Source

and these requirements are very well known to us.

[fillippone]

A nice article doing a sumup and a recap of various legislation advancements around the world:

Regulatory Roundup: Germany to Let Banks Sell and Store Crypto, Laws Changing in Asia

Some major regulatory developments in the crypto space have transpired this week. Not only has Germany passed a bill allowing banks to sell and store cryptocurrencies, but South Korea and Thailand are also amending their laws to better regulate the crypto industry. We also cover crypto news involving the governments of China, Japan, and the U.S., including the arrest of an Ethereum Foundation member.

[leeboy]

I hope that others EU countries will do the same law

[dothebeats]

I wouldn't be so sure banks don't know anything about bitcoin.
Banks have a lot of people looking into bitcoin, even if they cannot uffcially do anything touching bitcoin.

It's the masses and the customers of the banks, and not the banks per se, who don't know anything about bitcoin. Clearly a huge portion of our population still believes that bitcoin is just magic internet money that will help you get rich overnight, hence the surge of bitcoin-related search whenever bitcoin is on the rise. Banks do know about bitcoin and are doing their best to at least capitalize on it, be it directly or indirectly.

But they have a dying business model, and they have a lot of money to be put at work.
We might be suprorised on that front.

Banks will never die even if cryptocurrencies were to overtake the whole economic sphere.

It is the only institution where governments can freely corroborate to bend their money supply at will.

It is the only institution where people can go on and have secure loans and have their money safeguarded (or at least that's how people think it works.)

Literally the creation of banks and its concept/business model kept the whole world going from the early years of 20th century up to now, and have kept the whole world peaceful from devastating wars after WWII. Banks are as powerful as they can be, considering that the government would always have their backs no matter what.

[abhiseshakana]

It makes a lot of sense for a Bank to sell Bitcoin.


But why would make it sense from a customer point of view?

The easing of the monetary economic policy imposed by the European central bank was a response to the sluggish German manufacturing export market. Banking in Europe has been sluggish for years due to the environment of low-interest rates. Interest in the euro area user countries has touched 0% since 2012 and was at a negative level in 2014. Conditions that lasted for years have attacked banking profits and cast doubt on banking profitability, especially in Germany.

It is proven that some banks have to reduce their employees due to the implementation of negative interest rates. To anticipate this problem in particular so as not to fail, the Bank must consolidate and they must change the business model radically. The banking service program diversification that penetrated the cryptocurrency certainly made a fresh breeze for the banking industry. The Bank combines the guarantee of the safety of customer funds and the progress of blockchain technology is a marketing concept that will attract many benefits for banks.

Banks can collapse if we stop saving money in banks and stop using banking services. Or at least don't make a bank loan to support our lifestyle, a lifestyle that must adjust our abilities. By minimizing the function of banks in our lives the longer the bank will increasingly lose the market.

[fillippone]

It makes a lot of sense for a Bank to sell Bitcoin.


But why would make it sense from a customer point of view?

The easing of the monetary economic policy imposed by the European central bank was a response to the sluggish German manufacturing export market. Banking in Europe has been sluggish for years due to the environment of low-interest rates. Interest in the euro area user countries has touched 0% since 2012 and was at a negative level in 2014. Conditions that lasted for years have attacked banking profits and cast doubt on banking profitability, especially in Germany.

It is proven that some banks have to reduce their employees due to the implementation of negative interest rates. To anticipate this problem in particular so as not to fail, the Bank must consolidate and they must change the business model radically. The banking service program diversification that penetrated the cryptocurrency certainly made a fresh breeze for the banking industry. The Bank combines the guarantee of the safety of customer funds and the progress of blockchain technology is a marketing concept that will attract many benefits for banks.

Banks can collapse if we stop saving money in banks and stop using banking services. Or at least don't make a bank loan to support our lifestyle, a lifestyle that must adjust our abilities. By minimizing the function of banks in our lives the longer the bank will increasingly lose the market.

I would say that the QE in Europe was done, stripping out the marketing by the ECB to make this acceptable by the general public, with the sole aim of saving European Banks from collapse.

This is because there was a massive exposure, for a variety of reasons it's not worth examining here, of banks toward European Sovereign debt. When the there was a Euro confidence crisis, debt of European Nations, which back in time were heavily in debt, all of them (situation has not improved since then, bar Germany).
So ECB started accepting those debt held by banks, in exchange to fresh money, they could have in theory used to fuel real growth.
What happened instead is that not only Banks benefited from ECB money printing, but they used that money to buy even more debt only to profit from rising prices, using free money from the ECB.

Regarding consolidations and "traditional" ways of improving efficiency, I think European banks have gone far enough. Everyday we read on newspapers that bigger banks are buying (or forced to buy) smaller banks, closing branches and laying off employees in the thousands.

Yes, they need to embrace digital more, opening their expertise to new markets like cryptos. But they have the burden of regulations, and regulators (namely ECB) which are literally scared of anything related to crypts.

As per this news something is beginning to change, and I think it's a very welcome news as this might seem a little movement in hte regulatory framework, while it's a massive paradigm shift.