German Stock Exchange Wants to Launch Bitcoin Products

Deutsche Boerse, owner of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is considering offering cryptocurrency products, according to a report.

Speaking at an industry event in London on Wednesday, Jeffrey Tessler, the firm's head of clients, products and core markets, said, "We are deep at work with it."

However, any move into the crypto space from the stock exchange may not be immediately forthcoming, with Bloomberg quoting Tessler as saying:

"Before we move forward with anything like bitcoin we want to make sure we understand the underlying transaction which isn’t the easiest thing to do."

While CME Group and Cboe Global Markets both launched bitcoin futures trading last December, Tessler further said during the event that Deutsche Boerse is "not at the same stage."

The firm, he said, is trying first to understand the volatility of the bitcoin market and making sure clients and regulators are "in line" before moving forward with any offerings, he added.

While a move into offering bitcoin products is so far not certain, the exchange has already been active in the blockchain space.

Last June, Deutsche Boerse revealed details to CoinDesk about its plan to move the majority of its post-trade services to a blockchain. It said at the time that it was focused on creating a system, using Hyperledger's open-source Fabric protocol, to transfer securities and move commercial bank money, while still ensuring cross-jurisdictional compliance with regulators.

And, as recently as March, the group announced it would develop a platform for more efficient securities lending using R3's Corda blockchain tech.

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