Vienna-based fintech Bitpanda announced on Thursday it received a payment service provider license issued by the Austrian financial market authority (FMA) in accordance with European law (PSD2). Founded in 2014, Bitpanda claims to be Europe’s leading retail broker for buying and selling Bitcoin, Ethereum, IOTA and other cryptocurrencies. The platform has more than one million users.
“At Bitpanda we are firm believers in the innovative power of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology. Our mission is to be the key driving force in the ongoing fintech revolution by providing easy-to-use, safe and trustworthy access to any digital assets for both new and experienced users.”
Speaking about the license, Bitpanda CEO Eric Demuth, stated:
“We are very happy that Bitpanda is one of the few European cryptocurrency fintechs to receive such a license. It’s a big step towards our vision to create an open, innovative investment-platform.”
Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, former Head of Department Digitalisation and Innovation at Austria’s leading banking group Raiffeisen and Managing Director at Bitpanda, went on to add:
“We want to act as the missing link to make digital assets spendable anywhere our users want. With the license, we are a first mover in Europe to offer convenient and innovative features and services.”