Crypto Exchange Bitpanda Expands Austrian Presence With Raiffeisen Bank Partnership

• Bitpanda’s crypto offering in partnership with Raiffeisen Bank has been extended beyond Vienna to 55 bank branches across Austria.
• The crypto exchange is opening a Dubai office, making UAE the choice of its first expansion outside of Europe.

European crypto exchange Bitpanda expanded its partnership with the Vienna-based unit of Austrian lender Raiffeisen to offer crypto to customers at 55 bank branches across the country, the firms said on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Bitpanda said it was opening a Dubai office, making UAE the choice of its first expansion outside of Europe.

A clear regulatory framework is essential for crypto businesses, and any jurisdictions that can offer this peace of mind will naturally take the lead in digital assets. In the case of Europe, this is the Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regime being implemented this year. UAE has already stolen a march on other jurisdictions with its Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).

Bitpanda’s deputy CEO Lukas Konrad says the European Union’s promise of regulatory clarity is translating into adoption: the Raiffeisen partnership, which kicked off several months ago for customers in the capital city Vienna, has seen an adoption rate of 10%, with new investors buying mainly large-cap cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum tokens, he said.

“Europe has a big benefit when it comes to crypto and that’s a clear regulatory framework, which comes into force from January 2025 onwards,” Konrad said in an interview. “The same regulatory clarity exists in the Dubai and Abu Dhabi regions. But in the U.S., this is not happening, making entities like banks hesitant. That’s not the case in the UAE.”