Clearstream, the post-trade infrastructure arm of Deutsche Börse, added six more cryptocurrencies to its regulated custody service on Monday, a sign of how financial market infrastructure providers are folding tokens into their core operations.
Clearstream Adds Six Tokens To Custody as MiCA Grace Period Ends
7 July 2026 - 11:30 CEST
In a 6 Jul statement, Clearstream said it was expanding its institutional crypto custody offering beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, to XRP, Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar (XLM) and Avalanche (AVAX). The service uses Crypto Finance, a sister company within Deutsche Börse Group authorized under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), as sub-custodian. It covers settlement, custody, safekeeping, asset servicing and related collateral and financing functions.
Bridging the gap
Clearstream framed the move as a response to institutional demand for MiCA-compliant crypto exposure within regulated custody channels.
The expansion comes five days after MiCA's transition period ended on 1 Jul, replacing national registrations with a single licensing regime for crypto firms across the European Economic Area (EEA). With non-MiCA-authorized providers no longer able to serve EU institutional clients, Clearstream is positioning itself to absorb custody demand from European banks and asset managers that lack in-house crypto capabilities.
Under one rulebook
Clearstream began its regulated crypto custody service with BTC and ETH in April 2025; the six additions broaden the menu available to institutional clients through the same rails, and show how Europe's post-trade infrastructure is adapting to tokenized and crypto assets under a harmonized regime.
Clearstream and Belgium-based Euroclear are the world's only two international central securities depositories (ICSDs), entities that hold and settle bonds, equities and other securities across multiple jurisdictions, sitting at the centre of Europe's cross-border capital markets. Euroclear has taken a different tack, focusing on tokenized bonds and blockchain-based collateral mobility rather than direct crypto custody. Clearstream's securities services span more than 60 markets and include the German and Luxembourg national central securities depositories (CSDs), alongside its ICSD for the Eurobond market.
Circle bank partnerships
The move follows deals struck by the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) and Standard Chartered with USDC issuer Circle that give the banks' institutional clients bank-routed access to mint, redeem and hold the dollar-pegged stablecoin. Those partnerships position regulated banks to take up a distribution role for stablecoins, extending their use from crypto trading into treasury and payments.
