UniCredit Begins Search for a Digital Asset Custody and Brokerage Technology Partner
Updated: 6 days ago
UniCredit is shopping for a technology partner to build digital asset custody and brokerage infrastructure, a move that would let one of Italy's largest banks hold and trade crypto and tokenised instruments directly for wealth clients in Italy, Germany and Austria.
UniCredit is in early stage talks to select a technology provider capable of supporting custody and the buying and selling of digital assets, Bloomberg reported on 11 September, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank has not finalised which products it will offer through the infrastructure, though tokenised investment products, fixed income securities, stablecoin exposure and cryptocurrency access are all understood to be under consideration.
The custody and brokerage search builds on moves UniCredit has already made this year. In April it invested 4 million euros for a 16 per cent stake in BlockInvest, and on 8 September it took a minority stake in VC Trade, a digital markets venture. Taken together, the three moves point to a bank assembling the pieces of a digital asset business rather than testing a single pilot.
What makes UniCredit's approach notable is where it sits relative to its European peers. Bank digital asset activity across the continent currently clusters into three broadly separate areas. Tokenisation of capital markets and funds is the most crowded, with BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, LBBW, Santander, Intesa Sanpaolo and UBS all active in bond issuance, distribution or asset servicing.
Payments, through stablecoins or tokenised deposits, is dominated by Qivalis, a 37 bank consortium building a regulated euro stablecoin, alongside solo efforts from Societe Generale and Credit Agricole. Custody and brokerage, connecting clients directly to digital assets, is the least crowded of the three, with only Santander, BBVA, Commerzbank, DZ Bank and BPCE active so far. UniCredit's wealth franchise across three countries gives it a distribution advantage in exactly the segment with the least competition.
The timing also underlines a gap between European and US banks. Only two European banks, Deutsche Bank and UBS, have piloted stablecoin products, against global systemically important banks such as JPMorgan, Citi and HSBC embedding stablecoin and tokenised deposit infrastructure deeply across their business lines. UniCredit's move into custody and brokerage will not close that gap on its own, but it signals that a second tier of European banks is no longer content to watch the largest US and UK institutions build the rails alone.
What does this mean?
For UK readers, the relevant comparison is closer to home. Standard Chartered and HSBC completed a live tokenised deposit transaction on Swift's blockchain based ledger in August, and UK regulators have spent 2026 building out the Digital Securities Sandbox and a joint FCA and Bank of England vision for wholesale tokenisation.
UniCredit's custody and brokerage search is a reminder that continental banks are approaching the same underlying shift through a different door, retail and wealth distribution rather than wholesale market infrastructure, and that the two paths will eventually need to interoperate.
No technology partner has been selected and no product launch date has been set. Bloomberg's sourcing describes the process as early stage, and UniCredit has not commented publicly beyond confirming its existing stakes in BlockInvest and VC Trade.
Key Takeaways
UniCredit is selecting a technology provider for digital asset custody and brokerage infrastructure, adding to its stakes in BlockInvest and VC Trade.
European bank digital asset activity splits into tokenisation, payments and custody and brokerage, with custody and brokerage the least crowded segment.
Only Deutsche Bank and UBS have piloted stablecoins among European banks, compared with deep adoption at US and UK globally systemic banks.
UniCredit's wealth franchise in Italy, Germany and Austria gives it a distribution route into the least contested part of the market.
The move sits alongside, rather than converges with, UK progress on wholesale tokenisation infrastructure through the Digital Securities Sandbox.
Sources
Background: UniCredit's digital asset building blocks
The custody search is the latest in a sequence of steps. In September 2025 UniCredit was one of nine founding banks behind Qivalis, the Amsterdam-based joint venture set up to issue a euro stablecoin. Its other founders included ING, CaixaBank, Danske Bank, KBC, SEB and Raiffeisen Bank International, and BNP Paribas joined in December 2025. Qivalis has applied to De Nederlandsche Bank for authorisation as an electronic money institution and targeted a launch in the second half of 2026, subject to approval.
The VC Trade deal is more specific than a general digital markets bet. According to UniCredit, VC Trade is a Frankfurt-based fintech founded in 2016 that runs digital infrastructure for debt transactions, including syndicated loans and Schuldscheine, and is the leading marketplace in the German Schuldschein market by volume and number of deals. UniCredit took a minority stake with an option to increase it over time; the size and price were not disclosed. The bank has also issued Italy's first tokenised mini-bond.
What it means for UK founders
For UK tokenisation and digital asset startups, a large European bank buying custody and brokerage technology is a signal about who the customers are. UniCredit is looking for a provider rather than building everything in-house, which suggests that specialist infrastructure firms, not only banks, will supply the rails behind wealth products.
UK firms selling into EU banks will need to work within the EU's MiCA framework, while their home market is moving to its own regime. The FCA's application window for cryptoasset firms opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027. Founders planning to serve clients in both markets may want to take professional advice on how the two authorisation routes interact, and on what a bank's procurement and due diligence process will expect to see.
Key facts at a glance
UniCredit announced its minority stake in VC Trade on 8 September 2026.
VC Trade is based in Frankfurt, was founded in 2016 and focuses on digital debt transactions.
UniCredit holds a 16 per cent stake in BlockInvest, a blockchain-based financing platform.
UniCredit was one of nine founding banks of the Qivalis euro stablecoin venture, announced on 25 September 2025.
Qivalis is domiciled in Amsterdam and has applied to De Nederlandsche Bank for an electronic money licence.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
What is UniCredit looking for in digital assets?
UniCredit is in early stage talks to select a technology provider capable of supporting custody and the buying and selling of digital assets, Bloomberg reported on 11 September 2026. The infrastructure would let the bank hold and trade crypto and tokenised instruments directly for wealth clients in Italy, Germany and Austria.
Which digital asset products could UniCredit offer to wealth clients?
UniCredit has not finalised which products it will offer. Tokenised investment products, fixed income securities, stablecoin exposure and cryptocurrency access are all understood to be under consideration.
What digital asset investments has UniCredit already made?
In April UniCredit invested 4 million euros for a 16 per cent stake in BlockInvest, and on 8 September it took a minority stake in VC Trade, a digital markets venture.
Which European banks are active in digital asset custody and brokerage?
Only Santander, BBVA, Commerzbank, DZ Bank and BPCE are active so far. Custody and brokerage is the least crowded of the three areas of European bank digital asset activity, behind tokenisation of capital markets and funds, and payments.
Has UniCredit chosen a digital asset technology partner yet?
No technology partner has been selected and no product launch date has been set. Bloomberg describes the process as early stage.
Comments