Deutsche Bank Executive Becomes CEO Of Binance-Backed Crypto Bank Founders Bank

Deutsche Bank Executive Becomes CEO Of Crypto-Based Bank

Founders Bank based in Malta has made a Deutsche Bank Executive its CEO. The bank which is still seeking licence form the Malta Financial Services Authority, plans to offer financial services to crypto companies and startups in the blockchain and cryptocurrency markets as an alternative to traditional banks.

The newly appointed CEO Kenan Altunis was the of global co-head of the institutional client group in Deutsche Bank’s corporate and investment bank. In this position, Kunis worked directly with institutional clients of the investment bank with over 1,000 staff under him.

Founders Bank is backed by one of its clients, Binance, which invested in the bank since July 2018. Binance reportedly invested in 5% stake in the bank with a pre-money valuation of $155 million.

Founders Bank will go down in history as the first bank to give priority to cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. This is likely to contribute significantly to the growth of the industry as having a financial institution of this kind help cryptocurrency companies access financial services more readily.

Meanwhile, a new proposal for another Bitcoin ETF was submitted to the SEC recently. This brings the number of ETF proposals to three and although the SEC has been reluctant in considering the applications, a SEC commissioner earlier hinted that there is hope of approval at some point.

The approval will hopefully help to further push the industry forward by bringing institutional investors in. Founders Bank will also help significantly to sustain institutional investors’ interest in the industry and eventually encourage investments in cryptocurrency and blockchain based startups as well.

This is also a way of promoting the adoption of blockchain technology in the mainstream sectors and the bank will serve as a middle man in bringing this dream to pass. Several other blockchain-friendly companies such as blockchain security and crypto custodial firm BitGo all help to provide services that help the industry to thrive.

The new CEO of Founders Bank, Kunis is expected to resume duties by June. as the bank is based in Malta where the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance is located, certainly there will be a lot of collaboration between the two to establish the bank in the industry for a very good start and future for the cryptocurrency industry. It will be great to see the activities that unfold as Founders commences operation in the industry. Will it replace the need for an ETF?