All eyes are on the failure of FTX in the crypto industry. That’s why today’s Bitpanda news is an important sign for the Austrian unicorn company. Bitpanda has received a crypto license from the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
Its German subsidiary is now authorized to process cryptocurrencies for German clients under its Crypto Protection and Proprietary Trading License. Do not rely on passport regulations. While there are countless crypto licenses across Europe, BaFin’s license is highly selective as only four companies are listed as licensed crypto custodian companies in BaFin’s database.
Coinbase is another popular company in the database. It has the same license but is a US based company. Bitpanda claims to be the first European retail investment platform to meet these requirements.
In addition to its German license, Bitpanda holds licenses with the Austrian and French financial regulators. As Bitpanda seeks to grow its white label business, these licenses are key advantages for signing partnerships with other European fintech companies.
For example, Lydia has partnered with Bitpanda to be able to offer cryptocurrency and stock trading to its clients. Lydia is particularly popular in France with over 5.5 million customers.
N26 recently launched a crypto business in Austria (as shown in the picture at the top of this article). This is the first step as the German mobile bank wants to expand its crypto business to other markets. I’m sure that Bitpanda applying for licenses in Germany and France has had an impact on these partnership discussions.
“At Bitpanda, we set high standards for ourselves and are fully committed to doing things right and doing the right things,” co-founder and CEO Eric DeMusz said in a statement. “This principle is in our DNA as a fully regulated investment platform and, in my opinion, is critical to the long-term success of our industry. The security of our clients’ digital assets and our white label partners is our top priority.”
In addition to France, Germany and Austria, Bitpanda has received regulatory approvals in the Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK, as Coindesk notes plans to standardize EU-level crypto regulatory frameworks with markets in crypto. Property (MiCA) regulation.
So there will be more regulatory announcements in the future. Although Bitpanda did not mention FTX directly, it is clear that the company wants to be seen as a responsible company for European investors.
According to FTX’s support portal, FTX operates in Europe through K-DNA Financial Services Ltd., an investment firm regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and a passport to the European Economic Area.
“We want to give our clients a safe, secure and easy way to invest. This means monitoring and strict separation of client and company assets, which is unfortunately not everywhere at the moment,” said Demus.
