Vienna, Austria-based crypto broker Bitpanda is leaning into a strategy it has been quietly building for years: keep its retail business rooted in Europe while expanding globally by providing crypto infrastructure to banks and financial firms.
The company’s next phase of growth will focus less on raw user numbers and more on geographic reach, Vishal Sacheendran, vice president of global market strategy and operations, told CoinDesk in an interview.
“It’s about having a footprint in multiple markets,” Sacheendran said.
This expansion builds on its constant growth. The company, which boasts more than 7 million users, this week reported €371 million ($430 million) in adjusted revenue for 2025, up 16% from a year earlier, while its registered user base rose 25% to 7.4 million.
The company is also considering a public listing. Bitpanda is reportedly preparing for a potential IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as early as the first half of 2026 with a target of a valuation between EUR 4 billion and EUR 5 billion. The plan comes as several crypto exchanges and infrastructure firms have either gone public or plan to do so.
Bringing crypto to banks
The exchange spent the last decade largely focused on the EU, where its app allows retail users to trade cryptocurrencies and other assets. But outside Europe, Sacheendran said the strategy needs to change. In some markets—especially smaller ones or those already dominated by global exchanges—it may not make sense to launch a consumer app.
Instead, Bitpanda wants to work through banks and financial institutions that already have distribution. “We don’t want to compete with exchanges everywhere,” he said. “There is a large segment of the market that still trusts banks.”
The company formalized this approach earlier in March with the launch of Bitpanda Enterprise, a new institutional offering that packages the firm’s infrastructure for banks, brokers, asset managers, fintechs and corporate clients.
The entity builds on Bitpanda’s existing B2B business, formerly known as Bitpanda Technology Solutions, and brings together multiple services into a single platform. These include API-based investment infrastructure for financial brands, institutional-grade custody, trade liquidity and settlement tools, and payment rails for crypto and stablecoins. The platform also includes token infrastructure for stablecoin issuance and systems designed to support tokenized assets.
UAE launch pad
An early example of that model came in July, when RAKBANK, one of the UAE’s oldest lenders, launched crypto trading for retail customers through a partnership with Bitpanda. Instead of building its own infrastructure, the bank joined Bitpanda’s platform.
Sacheendran said such deals often open doors elsewhere. Once one major bank adopts crypto services, others tend to follow suit. “When a top-tier bank starts offering it, the rest of the market takes notice,” he said.
Bitpanda’s pitch to institutional partners rests heavily on its regulatory positioning. The company has operated under strict licensing requirements, including the EU’s MiCA framework, which is widely considered to be one of the most comprehensive crypto regulatory regimes.
Regulatory moat
Regulatory credibility is rising, Sacheendran said, especially in emerging markets where regulators are still shaping their approach to digital assets. In many of these regions – including parts of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East – authorities are keen to develop the sector but want partners who already operate within strong compliance frameworks.
The Asia-Pacific region illustrates the complexity. The region is “very fragmented,” he said, with different rules in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Bitpanda’s approach there will be gradual: start small, test demand and scale where the regulatory and commercial conditions align.
On the product side, Bitpanda is evaluating derivatives trading, although Sacheendran noted that regulations vary widely across jurisdictions. He also expects tokenization to become a bigger theme in the coming years, especially for assets like bonds, money market funds and real estate.
Those markets could benefit from blockchain’s ability to enable around-the-clock trading and broader investor access, he said.
One area where Bitpanda is unlikely to enter directly is stablecoin issuance. “We’re not building a stablecoin,” Sacheendran said, noting that the company prefers to provide infrastructure and operational support to institutions looking to launch their own.
Read more: Stricter MiCA rules could dilute crypto industry across EU, says Swiss asset manager
