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- The veteran bank will begin offering its crypto trading services in Vienna with a close partnership with Bitpanda cryptocurrency exchange, which is regulated under the European regulations of e-money.
- The crypto services on Raiffeisen Bank will be issued to retail customers beginning at the end of January 2024, thus exposing the crypto bull scenario to more investors.
As the European countries prepare to implement the Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA) regulatory framework, one of the oldest and wealthiest banking institutions in Austria, Raiffeisen, with over $215 billion in assets under management (AUM), has announced plans to start offering cryptocurrency services to its 17.8 million customers beginning the end of January next year.
According to the company’s head of innovation, Curt Chadha, during a recent interview, the crypto trading services, which will be offered in collaboration with Bitpanda cryptocurrency exchange, will begin with customers in Vienna. Moreover, the capital city is host to a major portion of the country’s population, which has shown great interest in the digital asset industry.
The customer can use their mobile device to enter Bitpanda through the Raiffeisen app. The experience will be familiar, so confirming a trade will work exactly like an account-to-account bank transfer with the same sort of security customers are used to,
Ultimately, the bank expects to roll out its crypto trading services to other markets to ensure its sustainable growth amid the Bitcoin global revolution. Furthermore, Chadha highlighted that its crypto services are focused on all types of investors as the application is user-friendly and so are Bitpanda’s crypto operations, which are straight to the point.
🏦 Austria's Billion-Dollar Raiffeisen Bank is diving into crypto! 🚀
Starting January 2024, they're offering #Bitcoin, #Ripple's #XRP, #Ethereum trading and more to retail customers, beginning in Vienna. 💰
Partnering with #Bitpanda, this move marks a growing trend in crypto… pic.twitter.com/Q420KoFlD8
— Collin Brown (@CollinBrownXRP) November 23, 2023
What the Raiffeisen Entrance to Crypto Market Means
The entrance of Austria’s 97-year-old bank into the crypto market indicates that the time for digital assets to rule the global financial market is at hand. Already, most countries are struggling with high inflation and poor monetary policies that only favor ultra-wealthy individuals and organizations.
Moreover, the banking crisis that was experienced at the beginning of this year was caused by investors withdrawing their funds en masse to deposit to neo-banking institutions that align with web3 projects. Ideally, Raiffeisen had to work with a web3 project or introduce crypto-related services to ensure its future growth prospect.
Notably, the partnership between Raiffeisen Bank and Bitpanda was forged earlier this year, when the two companies signed a letter of intent to cooperate. According to Bitpanda, it has developed a dedicated software-as-a-service infrastructure to enable traditional banks to offer seamless trading of the top-demanded crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple-backed XRP.
In the spirit of absolute customer focus, we support our customers as a reliable and strong partner. Personal advice is just as important as digital solutions that are up to date,” Michael Höllerer, General Director of Raiffeisen Bank, noted. “The examination of the partnership with Bitpanda is to add an innovative, secure facet to our product range and should enable all customers to easily build wealth.
