Crypto22 September, 20262 min read
Raiffeisen Bank International Partners With Bitpanda to Build Crypto Framework for 18 Million Customers
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RBI to offer crypto trading across 11 European markets through Bitpanda partnership. Framework to enable access for up to 18 million RBI customers across Central and Eastern Europe.
5 outlets told this the same way.
RBI and Bitpanda expand
Raiffeisen Bank International partnered with Bitpanda Enterprise to create a common digital asset framework that could bring crypto services within reach of about 18 million customers across Central and Eastern Europe. Bitpanda Enterprise will provide the underlying crypto infrastructure, while individual RBI network banks will determine their offerings and rollout based on local market and regulatory requirements.
RBI CEO Michael Höllerer said the bank is seeing growing demand for crypto assets across its markets and is addressing it with Bitpanda, adding, “As a customer-centric bank, we are committed to meeting our customers’ needs in the best possible way,”. Bitpanda told Cointelegraph that the rollout remains at an early stage and will proceed gradually based on local market and regulatory requirements, with further details to come as individual markets are confirmed.
How the model works
The partnership expands a model already used by Raiffeisen banks in Austria, where customers can access digital assets through their existing banking services. Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien integrated crypto access through Bitpanda in 2024, and Bitpanda supplied the technology behind that service while customers continued using their bank as the main point of contact.
The “Mein ELBA” app lets bank customers access the Bitpanda world directly from their accounts. Bitpanda holds the crypto wallets and the entire tradable assets, while the unified framework is intended to “integrate digital asset services in all markets of the region.”
Regulated push and next steps
Bitpanda is authorized under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), and the companies said individual banks will decide what products to offer and when to launch them based on local regulations and market conditions.
The arrangement does not mean crypto services will become available to all RBI customers at the same time, because each network bank will determine its product offering and launch schedule based on demand, local rules and its operating requirements.
Bitpanda is regularly in discussions with banks and financial institutions exploring crypto brokerage services but declined to comment on active or confidential talks.
Banks represented nearly 23% of entities listed on the European Securities and Markets Authority’s crypto provider register by Sept. 16, after their number roughly doubled from around 40 in late June to about 80.