Key Data

• Trading Name: Bitpanda 
• Legal Entity: Bitpanda GmbH
  Bitpanda Payments GmbH
• Activities: Crypto exchange
• Location: Vienna, Austria
• Regulations: FMA & BaFin
• Key People:  Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek, and Christian Trummer 

Bitpanda is the trading name of the Austrian crypto exchange, payment processor, and merchant service provider Bitpanda Payments GmbH.

The Austrian regulator FMA granted Bitpanda an e-Money Institution (EMI) license in March 2022. Additionally, Bitpanda is authorized by the French AMF.

BitPanda is one of the new crypto unicorns. The start-up focuses on European markets, with offices in eight cities across the region, including Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin, Krakow, London, Madrid, Milan, and Paris.

In August 2021, Austria’s first crypto unicorn announced a $263 million Series C, led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, at a valuation of $4.1 billion.

Offering

Bitpanda offers its clients trading and investing in various assets – crypto, stocks, and ETFs. It expanded into the B2B market and operates a white label platform offering that lets other fintechs and banks offer trading to their own clients.

Bitpanda is a fully automated (online) platform. Coins are automatically sent to buyers here as soon as the corresponding payments are confirmed. Bitpanda’s main focus is on speed and ease of use.

In addition to cryptocurrencies, Bitpanda now also offers investments in indices, ETFs, tokenized precious metals and shares. There’s also the fancy Bitpanda Card, a debit card in cooperation with VISA, with which users can use their assets for cashless payments at any time.

Basically, anyone can open an account and use their Bitpanda Wallet for free. Storing and crypto transactions around the world are not limited. And transactions within Bitpanda are free of charge.

The purchase, in turn, is geographically limited: Bitpanda offers it within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the majority of EU member states plus Iceland Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Monaco.

People who live in countries that have adopted the euro can apply for the Bitpanda Visa card. This fee-free debit card offers between 0.5% and 2% in rewards on spending. Users can choose which assets they want to use for payments, making it easy to spend cryptocurrency. However, it’s worth noting that crypto spending may not be great for long-term, buy-and-hold investors.

Withdraws Limits

Online payments: Deposits 10,000 €/day, withdrawals 100,000 €/day. Credit card deposits (Visa, Mastercard) Deposits maximum 2,500 €/day, no withdrawals, SEPA from “Light Verification” 49,999 € deposit and 500,000 € withdrawal, fully verified you can deposit 500,000 € and withdraw 5,000,000 € per day.

Fees

Bitpanda openly communicates its claim to keep fees as low as possible. At the time of our Bitpanda review, this manifests itself in a mere 1.49% when buying and 1.29% when selling Bitcoin.

Regulation

Bitpanda holds several key licenses and registrations that underscore its commitment to regulatory compliance and customer security. The company operates under various Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registrations across multiple European countries, including Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Sweden.

In Germany, Bitpanda has obtained the Crypto Custody and Proprietary Trading license from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), allowing it to offer crypto custody and proprietary trading services.

Additionally, Bitpanda holds licenses under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), enabling it to provide investment services across the European Union. The company is also registered as an E-Money Institution (EMI) and complies with the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), authorizing it to issue electronic money and process payments.

These licenses and registrations reflect Bitpanda’s dedication to adhering to stringent regulatory standards and offering a secure environment for its users.

News

In August 2022, users repeatedly reported that customer service had very long waiting times, accounts were frozen or deactivated, or customers were threatened with police/legal action.

Customers repeatedly report that Bitpanda requires them to provide proof of funds to access their assets, but after successfully providing this proof, the assest are still blocked for no reason.

In November 2022 Bitpanda got a crypto license from BaFin

In May 2023 Bitpanda announced that it partners with Coinbase to expand the availability of a fully regulated trading infrastructure for its institutional clients outside the US.

In the fall of 2023, Bitpanda announced that its 2022 revenue had dropped from €477 million to €90 million and its loss had exploded to €116 million. Bitpanda was long considered a high-flyer among European fintechs. Currently, however, there is a doom and gloom.

Experienced Issues

1. Customer Support and Account Freezes:

   Users have reported difficulties in contacting customer support, particularly when resolving account-related issues or recovering access after account freezes.
   (finanzfluss.de)

2. Security Concerns:

   Bitpanda has faced reports of phishing attacks, raising concerns about its security measures and the responsiveness of its support team.
   (praxistipps.chip.de)

3. Fee Structure:

   Some users criticize Bitpanda’s fees as higher or less transparent compared to other platforms.
   (finanzfluss.de)

4. Transaction Delays:

   There have been reports of delays in deposits, withdrawals, or transaction processing, leading to user frustration.
   (finanzfluss.de)

Conclusion

We rate Bitpanda as green in both compliance and customer experience, as it meets all key criteria in these areas. The platform has shown a strong commitment to regulatory standards and has taken significant steps to enhance its customer service, security, and transparency.