Deutsche Bank has partnered with Swiss cryptocurrency company Taurus to provide custody services for cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets for institutional clients.

The partnership means that Deutsche Bank will for the first time be able to store a limited amount of cryptocurrencies as well as tokenized versions of traditional financial assets for its clients, a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said.

Cryptocurrency trading is not part of the bank’s “immediate plans.” Deutsche Bank said in a World Economic Forum paper back in 2020 that it intends to offer cryptocurrency trading.

Cryptocurrency markets have struggled to recover from last year’s series of collapses of leading cryptocurrency companies, with investors suffering heavy losses and lawmakers around the world calling for increased regulation. Nevertheless, various leading financial firms are talking up the possibility of using blockchain – the technology behind cryptocurrencies – to trade and settle traditional financial assets.

Various banks, including Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon and Societe Generale, offer cryptocurrency custody services.

According to CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency market is worth about $1.1 trillion, down from a peak of over $3 trillion in November 2021.