It is a groundbreaking announcement: The crypto exchange BitMEX plans to buy the traditional German bank von der Heydt. This adds a whole new brushstroke to the “old world meets new world” picture. A picture that we ourselves helped paint by issuing the digital security for the Vogemann shipping company takes on a completely new dimension here. Because next to von der Heydt (founded in 1754), Vogemann looks downright youthful. In 1886, the year of its foundation, the bank’s first securities issue was more than 50 years ago. One of the first in Germany, by the way.

Nothing has changed in the bank’s first mover role to this day. Von der Heydt has been active in the field of tokenisation since some years and even has a (provisional) crypto custody licence. Among other things, it is far ahead of the competition through targeted strategic partnerships. Fireblocks, Bitbond, Appian, CGift – you name it. Bankhaus von der Heydt is thus one of the first banks in Germany to offer blockchain services such as trading in cryptocurrencies and custody services for financial institutions.

And now this super coup. In which, for once, not the old = big fish swallows the young = small, but the other way around.

BitMEX CEO Alexander Höptner speaks of jointly building a “regulated crypto products powerhouse in the heart of Europe”, and that is a strong statement.

Höptner himself comes from the Stuttgart stock exchange, which is well known for its pioneering role in the crypto sector. So they know each other.

The takeover still requires the approval of BaFin. But once that is done:

What does that mean for the banking world and the traditional financial sector? The bank will remain in its current form, that’s for sure. But of course the acquisition will have an impact on an entire sector. And of course, no one sums it up better than Sven Wagenknecht, editor-in-chief of the industry medium BTC-Echo. It is about signal effects, change, humility – and also concretely about possible goals that result from the takeover. A highly recommended read!

UPDATE: On 31 March 2022 it was announced that the deal had fallen through. Both parties have “mutually agreed not to pursue the proposed acquisition”. Find out more in this article at Finance Forward (German).

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