FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that crypto trading and payments platform Bitpanda has received an Investment Firm license from Austrian financial regulator Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA). The new license will allow Bitpanda to expand the type of products and services it can provide to its two million users.

Vienna based Bitpanda has been operating to date under a Payments Transactions (PSD2) license from the FMA, which it received in April 2019. Bitpanda GmbH is a registered digital assets service provider with the FMA under FM-GwG, and with the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) under PACTE law.

Bitpanda was founded in 2014 by co-CEO Eric Demuth and Paul Klanschek. The company’s platform has grown into a popular trading platform for “newbies” and experts alike. Users can currently trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold and over 50 other digital assets.

The company has stated that the Bitpanda platform is all about ease of use. An easy verification process gives users access to an intuitive, fast and secure trading experience. Bitpanda wants to make investing in digital assets as easy as ordering a pizza or a taxi. The platform accepts Euro, Swiss franc, British pound sterling and US dollar support as well as a wide range of payment and payout providers.

Bitpanda raised $52 million in a Series A financing round in September 2020 led by Valar Ventures and other fintech investors such as Speedinvest, one of the largest ever Series A rounds closed for a European fintech. At the time, the company said that its focus is on expansion, and that it had made its way to countries like France, Spain and Turkey since the beginning of 2020. The plan is to keep on growing in more European countries during into 2021, to bring financial empowerment across borders and secure a new sense of financial culture.

Most importantly, Bitpanda said that the funding round will help it bring its platform and services to a “new level”. The company stated plans to launch new, industry-leading products, including a completely new and innovative way of stock trading in 2021. We believe that the receipt of the new Investment Firm license, which can also be passported to other EU countries, was an important element of that plan.