What To Know:
- Danske Bank now offers Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs through its online and mobile trading platforms, allowing customers to gain crypto exposure without holding tokens directly.
- The move ends years of resistance to crypto, though the bank still does not recommend digital assets and labels them high-risk, opportunistic investments.
- Stronger EU regulation under MiCA helped enable the shift, with access limited to self-directed investors who pass an appropriateness assessment.
Denmark’s largest lender, Danske Bank, is now offering Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded products through its digital banking platforms after years of maintaining a firm distance from the asset class.
As a result, customers using Danske eBanking and Danske Mobile Banking can invest in selected Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs directly through the bank’s trading platform. The structure allows investors to gain price exposure without holding the cryptocurrencies themselves. Custody and technical management remain outside the customer’s responsibility.
The decision marks a notable policy shift. In 2018, Danske Bank publicly discouraged cryptocurrency investment and refused to facilitate crypto trading. At the time, it stated that it held a negative view of digital assets and strongly recommended that customers avoid them. This restrictive stance was reaffirmed internally in 2021.
Denmark’s Danske Bank to odder Bitcoin, Ethereum ETP
Now, the bank says rising client interest has changed the equation.
“As cryptocurrencies have become a more common asset class, we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from customers wanting the option of investing in cryptocurrencies as part of their investment portfolio,” said Kerstin Lysholm, Head of Investment Products & Offering at Danske Bank.
The ETP rollout is for self-directed investors who already use the bank’s trading services without advisory support. Danske has made clear that it will not provide investment advice related to cryptocurrencies and does not classify them as long-term core holdings.
In its statement, the bank emphasized that access to crypto-linked ETPs should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the asset class. Such investments were described by Lysholm as being opportunistic, high risk, and for customers to accept and understand that the market is likely to be volatile. This change comes at a time when regulatory systems have matured in Europe.
The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, also known as MiCA, provides clear standards for crypto service providers and investor protection. Lysholm said greater regulatory strength has contributed to greater confidence to offer a selected range of regulated crypto products.
The changing regulatory framework has tended to push investors to demand more structured and more transparent, investor-focused markets with better protections, she said. Given the new regulatory environment, the bank justified issuing some cryptocurrency ETPs through its platform by saying the release of certain crypto ETPs was appropriate, as long as customers are informed about the associated risks. Customers who pass an appropriateness assessment will have access. The test is meant to help investors know what the products are and what risks they face i.e., price swings, potential losses. The customer is still the final investor arbiter.
Once, most banks avoided crypto exposure entirely, but there are several European institutions that offer regulated investment vehicles now, rather than direct token trading. The approach allows banks to respond to demand without integrating crypto custody or trading infrastructure into their core systems.
Crypto adoption in Denmark remains modest compared to global hotspots. According to data from Triple-A, there were 70,605 cryptocurrency owners in Denmark as of 2024, which represents roughly 1.2 percent of the population. Chainalysis’ Geography of Crypto 2025 report ranked Denmark 84th out of 151 countries in terms of adoption, measured by on-chain transaction value across centralized and decentralized platforms.
Even so, interest appears steady. Retail investors across Europe have increasingly sought regulated avenues for crypto exposure following the approval of exchange-traded products in multiple jurisdictions.
Danske’s announcement signals a recalibration rather than a full embrace of digital assets. The bank maintains its cautious framing. It does not promote cryptocurrencies as strategic portfolio pillars. It does not offer advisory services for them.
However, after an eight-year period in which crypto trading was effectively off-limits within its ecosystem, Danske Bank is now providing customers with a regulated pathway to participate in the market.
Also Read: ING Germany to Open Retail Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana ETP Investment
