Austrian banking group Raiffeisen is expanding bitcoin trading services to its 18 million customers across Europe through a partnership with cryptocurrency brokerage Bitpanda, the bank announced Wednesday.
The rollout builds on an earlier arrangement 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 in 2024. The new agreement establishes a unified approach across the entire Raiffeisen group rather than separate integrations for each market.
Raiffeisen chief executive Michael Höllerer attributed the expansion to customer demand. "We are seeing growing demand for crypto assets in our markets, which we are addressing with a strong, reputable partner," he said.
The move reflects a broader trend among major financial institutions. BBVA, Santander's Openbank, Germany's cooperative and savings banks, SoFi, PNC, Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley have all launched or announced retail crypto trading over the past 18 months.
Raiffeisen Bank International treats Austria and Central and Eastern Europe as its home market, operating subsidiary banks in 11 countries across the region. The group employs approximately 42,000 people and serves 18.8 million customers through roughly 1,300 branches.
Bitpanda Enterprise provides financial institutions with infrastructure for offering digital asset products, including investment tools, liquidity, custody, payments, stablecoins and tokenization services.
