Austrian Crypto Exchange Bitpanda Secures Trading License From Germany’s BaFin

Crypto exchange and custody platform Bitpanda announced on Nov. 22 that it had received a crypto trading license from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. According to Bitpanda, securing a license means it has become the “first European retail investment platform to meet BAFIN’s strict regulatory requirements.”

New License Strengthens Bitpanda’s Position

Austrian crypto exchange platform Bitpanda has secured “a crypto custody and proprietary trading licence for crypto assets from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BAFIN).” According to Bitpanda, securing the license means the crypto exchange has become the “first European retail investment platform to meet BAFIN’s strict regulatory requirements.”

In a statement, Bitpanda said the license allows it to extend its crypto custody and crypto assets trading services to German residents. Commenting on his company’s new milestone, Eric Demuth, CEO of Bitpanda, said:

Receiving the licence in Germany is the result of many months of hard work on the part of the entire Bitpanda team and took close cooperation with the team at BAFIN. It strengthens our position as a pioneer in terms of regulation in Europe and highlights yet again how well-positioned we are in this area. We want to give our customers a safe, secure and simple way to invest.

According to Demuth, Bitpanda has more exciting announcements to come before the end of the year. Founded in 2014 by Demuth, Paul Klanschek, and Christian Trummer, Bitpanda is already registered with Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) and France’s Autorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

In the Czech Republic, Bitpanda is registered as virtual assets service provider (VASP) and it also holds the PSD2 payments provider license. In addition to securing approvals to operate in Austria and the Czech Republic, Bitpanda, which reportedly has a valuation of $4.1 billion, has legal approval to operate in Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

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