Bitpanda Grows Its European Bank Network as Crypto Access Widens

Bitpanda is extending its presence in European banking through a partnership with Bulgaria's First Investment Bank (Fibank), the latest in a series of agreements that position the Austrian digital asset company as an infrastructure provider to traditional financial institutions. Announced October 7, the deal follows an expanded partnership with Raiffeisen Bank International and a retail crypto launch through Germany's BW-Bank in September. Under the Fibank arrangement, Bitpanda Enterprise will be the sole provider of crypto asset services, while Fibank maintains the customer-facing application in My Fibank. Nadeem Ladki, Global Head of Bitpanda Enterprise, described the partnership as part of a shift toward offering digital assets through established financial institutions, and Fibank CEO Nikola Bakalov emphasized the value of an established European technology partner. The announcement does not specify supported cryptocurrencies, transaction fees or whether all customers will have access at launch.

The RBI agreement, announced September 23, could provide a significantly larger distribution opportunity. The companies established a group-wide framework to support digital asset services across RBI's Central and Eastern European network, which serves approximately 18 million customers. That figure represents potential reach rather than an existing base of Bitpanda users, and individual banks will determine their own products and timelines. The framework builds on an existing Austrian partnership with Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien, and allows Bitpanda to support multiple banking subsidiaries on common infrastructure. Other publisher coverage describes the expansion as reaching 11 CEE markets.

In Germany, BW-Bank, the retail brand of LBBW, expanded its digital investment offering on September 9 to include crypto trading for self-directed investors. Customers access selected crypto assets through their existing securities-account environment using Bitpanda's investment infrastructure. Unlike the planned Bulgarian integration, this service is already live, and it shows Bitpanda expanding an established institutional relationship into retail customer segments.

Bitpanda formally introduced its expanded institutional platform, Bitpanda Enterprise, in March 2026, combining investment infrastructure with custody, liquidity, payments, stablecoin solutions and asset tokenization under an Investment-as-a-Service model accessed through APIs. The bank-integrated model lets Bitpanda extend distribution without requiring every customer to join its standalone app, though the commercial value of these agreements will depend on customer uptake that has yet to be disclosed. On the regulatory side, Bitpanda GmbH received authorization from Austria's Financial Market Authority in April 2025 under the EU's MiCA framework, which covers custody, exchange, order execution and transfers. In August 2026, the FMA imposed a €70,000 fine on the company for MiCA breaches, and banking partners must still assess their own obligations around customer protection and outsourcing. Competitors Revolut and N26 already offer crypto services in selected European markets, and adoption will hinge on pricing, asset range, execution quality and active usage through partner banks.