- Raiffeisen Bank International is launching digital asset services for its clients across Austria and the CEE under an expanded partnership with Bitpanda.
Bitpanda, a regulated European trading platform, and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), a major banking group focused in Austria and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), have announced expansion of their strategic partnership. The move will enable the banking group to integrate digital asset services into its regular offerings.
The Expanded Strategic Partnership of Bitpanda and RBI
According to the parties’ joint press release, the expanded agreement will let RBI gradually launch crypto services across its local branches in CEE. The bank estimates the new digital asset initiative will eventually benefit around 18 million customers. However, it plans a phased rollout to align with the region’s diverse market demands and regulatory requirements.
Meanwhile, Bitpanda will provide the underlying digital asset infrastructure for RBI. Its business-to-business (B2B) arm, Bitpanda Enterprise, will handle that.
It’s unclear which crypto assets will be available when the RBI digital asset service launches. Nonetheless, Bitpanda bridges users to more than 650 crypto assets, including the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). It also supports more than 10,000 stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and exchange-traded commodities (ETCs).
The deal builds upon the long-term collaboration between Bitpanda and RBI, which dates back to October 2020. Back then, the two partnered mainly to unlock blockchain interoperability for RBI’s e-money solution through Bitpanda’s Pantos project.
“As a customer-centric bank, we are committed to meeting our customers’ needs in the best possible way,” said Michael Höllerer, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International. “We are seeing growing demand for crypto assets in our markets, which we are addressing with a strong, reputable partner.”
“Technology has always been about building bridges between what exists today and what becomes possible tomorrow. Together with RBI, we’re doing exactly that: combining the reach and trust of traditional banking with digital asset technology to create infrastructure that works across markets and borders,” added Christian Trummer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Bitpanda. “I’m proud that what we pioneered in Austria is now growing into a partnership that can bring digital assets to millions of people in the CEE region.”
Bitpanda’s MiCA Compliance
Bitpanda was among the first major crypto companies to secure Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation approval. BaFin (the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) granted the fintech institution its license to offer digital asset services as early as January 2025.
For Bitpanda, receiving a MiCA license from one of Europe’s stringent financial regulators demonstrates its commitment to compliance and security, allowing clients to navigate the crypto space with greater confidence, transparency, and under strict investor-protection safeguards.
