They didn't "realized the potential of Bitcoin", They realized the money they could make
The banks aren't really interested in Bitcoin, nor its technology.
As painful as it may sound (I realise this may apply only to some of us), unfortunately, you're right. Banks won't really do something for the good that it can bring to people, but only get involved when they can profit.
This is exactly what this German bank has done, and I'm afraid many more will start doing the same. They will use the 'BTC' buzz word and 'crypto' to attract the common people and get them involved in their tricky game. It is out of the ignorance of these people that institutional banks profit from.
Banks are interested in the potential of abusing bitcoin and earning more fiat to build up their filthy cocaine-infested fiat notes run world. Just trending, they just want to get people to invest in them and are using crypto as a "front" to attract people since its "the cool thing to do" "The bank trusts it so it must be legit (said every moron ever and there are many morons out there)" This is terrible news and totally against crypto. I can't understand why anyone would use their services, though I am interested in finding more I can't seem to find any sturdy news about it.