Austrian cooperative banking company – Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) – has joined hands with Bitpanda to launch crypto investment services using the latter’s software as a service (SaaS) offering.
RLB NÖ-Wien has thus become the first major traditional bank in the European Union to step into digital assets with this collaboration.
The Partnership
Besides crypto investments, the Austrian company will focus on implementing stocks and ETFs, commodities, precious metals, and crypto as part of its offerings, even with a budget of just one euro to help customers achieve their financial goals, according to the official press release.
Bitpanda CEO Eric Demuth has expressed how the financial market is complicated and exclusive. He said the company intends to simplify the process and make investing accessible to everyone with simple and intuitive products that don’t need a user manual. With Bitpanda Technology Solutions, they created a software-as-a-service infrastructure that enables partner banks to offer their customers all assets digitally protected by regulated and secure custody of all assets.
“It is about simple, intuitive products that do not require a user manual. With Bitpanda Technology Solutions you have we have created a software-as-a-service infrastructure that enables our partner banks to offer their customers all assets digitally. Rounded off by regulated and secure custody of all assets. We look forward to our common path.”
As part of the collaboration, RLB NÖ-Wien has signed a letter of intent with Bitpanda, and the evaluation process for a concrete proposal is expected to be completed at the end of the year.
Addressing Crypto Regulatory Landscape
The partnership has come shortly after the European Union (EU) lawmakers’ final approval of Market in Cryptoassets (MiCA), the long-awaited regulatory framework seeking to set a comprehensive regulatory system for crypto assets focusing on disclosure and consumer protection.
MiCA will bring about new regulations for the sector across the bloc, and it’s expected to be published in the EU’s Official Journal in the summer. Provisions for stablecoins will roll out by late June 2024, and provisions guiding crypto asset service providers should be implemented by the end of next year.
EU’s approach to crypto regulation is viewed as a notable example that contrasts with the United States’ regulation-by-enforcement technique.
