Germany's Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenzgesetz (KStTG), which transposes the EU's DAC8 directive into national law, takes effect on 24 December 2025. From that point, crypto platforms operating in Germany must collect tax residency and identification data from all of their users, with the first full reporting cycle covering 2026 transactions due to the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern by 31 July 2027.
Providers must also query existing account holders who opened accounts before 2026 by 1 January 2027. Customers who fail to respond to these requests face having their trading accounts suspended for between 60 and 90 days after the first request. Individual customers who fail to supply accurate information can be fined up to €50,000 under Section 18 of the law, and providers that intentionally breach their obligations face the same maximum penalty. Where a provider is fined a second time, the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern is required to notify BaFin, opening the door to supervisory follow-up.
The rollout of the new reporting regime comes as a separate debate continues over Germany's Bitcoin holding period tax exemption, with a petition against its abolition having gathered more than 44,000 signatures.
Sparkassen launches crypto trading
Germany's savings banks group began offering crypto trading to retail customers on 19 October, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Polygon. The service, branded \"Krypto powered by Deka,\" is provided by DekaBank with trading infrastructure supplied by Börse Stuttgart, and costs €0.99 per order plus spread. More than 230 Sparkassen institutions have signalled interest, with the group expecting 30 to 40 institutions to join each month. Joachim Schmalzl, the DSGV board member responsible for the rollout, oversaw the decision. Stefan Marotzke commented: \"It is a small group of adult self-deciders who consciously choose to invest in cryptocurrencies. These customers generally know what risks they are taking.\"
Swiss retail Bitcoin ETF and Börse Stuttgart's blockchain license
Switzerland's FINMA has granted BIT Asset Management, the Zurich subsidiary of Singapore's BIT Group, an exception from diversification rules to launch the country's first full retail Bitcoin ETF, with the underlying Bitcoin held at Amina Bank. Trading is expected to start in mid-November. BIT Asset Management chief executive Dominik Oggenfuss said the fund aims to reach one billion within six to nine months.
Separately, Boerse Stuttgart Group has become the first European exchange group to receive a DLT-TSS license, enabling its Seturion blockchain trading platform. BaFin conducted the approval process with ESMA and the ECB involved. The company says connected banks and brokers could cut settlement costs by up to 90 percent. flatexDEGIRO, Nasdaq and Société Générale are already working with Seturion. Matthias Voelkel described the license as \"an important step toward making a unified European capital market a reality.\"
Regulators flag unlicensed providers
BaFin has warned against primefincompany.com, suspected of offering unlicensed financial, securities and crypto services in Germany, as well as kbg-beratung.de, operating under the names \"KBG Beratung\" and \"KBG Pro,\" over suspected unlicensed payment and crypto services. The regulator also flagged captrader.group, whose operators falsely present themselves as CapTrader GmbH, a company with no connection to the site.
In Austria, the FMA found that M3 DAO is not authorised to distribute its \"MarsProtocol\" investment fund product, and warned that Velmato Edge and esmartfinance offer securities services without a licence. It also flagged Gatefund Bank, which claims a Vienna headquarters and offers deposit and giro services without authorisation. In Switzerland, FINMA added primary-markets.com and threeriverscapitalwealth.com to its warning list, noting that neither is listed in the commercial register.
