Deutsche Bank conducts first euro transaction via blockchain

Deutsche Bank today announced that it has successfully conducted its first euro-denominated cross-border payment via Partior's blockchain platform. The transaction was performed together with DBS, Southeast Asia's largest bank by assets. Deutsche Bank acted as the settlement bank on the platform and DBS acted as the beneficiary bank.

As one of the largest clearing banks in the industry, Deutsche Bank invested in Partior in 2024 and finalised the platform agreement in May 2025 to deliver real-time, secure and scalable settlement. This live transaction represents an important milestone for the future of Deutsche Bank's cross-border payments solutions offered to Financial Institution (FI) clients.

In addition, Deutsche Bank and DBS - a founding shareholder of Partior - collaborated to ensure that the blockchain network was interoperable with traditional rails. This enabled the payment to be executed across different financial market infrastructures, demonstrating the potential of blockchain technology to complement existing rails.

Commenting on the transaction and its relevance for Deutsche Bank's product strategy, Ciaran Byrne, Head of Product Management Institutional Cash Management at Deutsche Bank said: "We envisage a future using multiple rails, be it SWIFT, Stablecoins, or blockchain-based solutions, where intelligent and negotiated routing produces maximum value in terms of processing efficiency, cost and client experience. Blockchain is clearly gaining traction in the industry and will form an integral component of how we service our FI clients. Through our partnership with Partior, we will offer clients a whole new experience in terms of real-time execution."

Humphrey Valenbreder, Partior's CEO, said "We are super proud of what we are able to deliver with the great collaboration of the teams at Deutsche Bank and DBS. In a very short timeframe, we have proven that our new rails create real, live business opportunities for our partners and their clients. By enabling real-time settlement in addition to the messaging, combined with the security and finality that global systemically important banks require, we are creating new possibilities for how value moves across borders - innovation that can benefit the financial ecosystem at large."

Patricia Sullivan, Head of Institutional Cash Management, adds. "We are constantly exploring ways of improving and future-proofing our operating model to ensure maximum benefit for our clients. Our integration with Partior will bring multiple benefits to our FI clients, including more efficient reconciliation processes, reduced payment failure risks and real-time confirmation since settlement occurs directly on the blockchain. Furthermore, more efficient interbank settlements mean that we can help to optimise liquidity management across the industry and, specifically, enable real-time treasury management for our clients' underlying customers."