Raiffeisen Bank International Expands Bitcoin Services Across Europe with Bitpanda

Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is set to roll out Bitcoin trading for its 18 million customers, partnering with brokerage Bitpanda to facilitate this initiative. The announcement, made on Wednesday, highlights RBI's response to increasing customer demand for cryptocurrency services.

RBI's CEO, Michael Höllerer, emphasized the importance of meeting customer needs, stating, "We are seeing growing demand for crypto assets in our markets, which we are addressing with a strong, reputable partner." This move follows a prior arrangement that began in Austria, where Raiffeisen Landesbank Niederösterreich-Wien became the first traditional bank in the European Union to offer crypto trading within its existing banking environment using Bitpanda’s technology.

The new agreement aims to streamline the integration process across the entire group, moving away from market-by-market approaches. Bitpanda Enterprise provides a range of services including investment infrastructure, liquidity, custody, payments, stablecoins, and tokenization, all while emphasizing compliance and scalability.

RBI considers Austria and Central and Eastern Europe as its primary markets, with subsidiary banks operating in 11 countries and serving approximately 18.8 million customers through around 1,300 branches. The group is predominantly owned by regional Raiffeisen banks, which hold about 61.2% of its shares.