The Federal Ministry of Finance in Germany revealed that six financial institutions in the country have begun trading cryptocurrency. The information came as the answer to a question from Bundestag member Thomas Lutze.
The ministry did not reveal which banks were doing it, but the figures came from its own findings on companies that are currently trading or possibly holding cryptocurrencies.
In Germany, the government’s attitude does not infringe upon or restrict the rights of its citizens to trade cryptocurrencies. As far as financial institutions are concerned, the country continues along the same lines, permitting them to engage in proprietary trading and even set up automatic tellers that let citizens freely exchange their Euros to Bitcoin or whatever else they may desire.
So far, the Ministry of Finance has not recorded any cases of these financial institutions breaking any rules on money laundering or the reporting of financial assets. Moreover, the answer by the ministry help underline that although institutions in Europe are generally quiet about cryptocurrencies, some of them may not have any qualms about their trade.
We don’t know, however, what Thomas Lutze wanted with this information. Die Linke, the party he belongs to, has politicians in the “Blockchain Bundesverband,” an advocacy group for blockchain technology that also includes legislators from the CDU, SPD, the Greens, FDP.
The revelation ties in well with a definite trend seen elsewhere. In the United States, we have Wall Street institutions like the Intercontinental Exchange and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) launching their own cryptocurrency trading desks.
Further south, in Argentina, shopping areas are being outfitted by Odyssey Group with ATMs that allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies at will.
In Asia, even governments that have taken more restrictive measures are still looking at blockchain technology as a tool, as we recently reported about chicken in China.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest