N26 launches crypto trading service in Austria

German digital bank N26 has announced that it has launched ‘N26 Crypto’ in Austria. According to the bank, this is another important step in taking the N26 experience beyond everyday banking and money management.

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The Berlin-based bank has teamed up with Austria’s Bitpanda for the trades and custody of coins, but Bitpanda doesn’t have a license for Germany, a hurdle for N26 offering the service in its home market.

Founded in 2014 by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek and Christian Trummer, Bitpanda launched as a crypto-trading platform.

Over the years, it has evolved to offer all types of investment opportunities, including commission-free fractional stocks, cryptocurrencies and precious metals. Investors can commit as little as $1.

The crypto asset sector is largely unregulated in most countries and regulators have warned investors face a high risk of losses. The European Parliament is expecting to vote on groundbreaking new rules for crypto assets in December or early 2023.

“The purchase of crypto assets constitutes a high risk and may result in the loss of the money spent,” N26 said in a footnote of its announcement.

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“The bank offers cryptocurrency trading only as a “wealth-building feature” – meaning clients can buy and sell tokens, but cannot transfer assets to other digital wallets. This of course has a significant impact on security and fraud prevention. The bank’s platform is a non-anonymous cryptocurrency trading system that has strict eligibility criteria beyond the bank’s existing client onboarding requirements.” said Gilles BianRosa, Chief Product Officer at N26.

Eric Demuth, Bitpanda co-founder and CEO, added, “As the industry evolves it is becoming increasingly clear that the best way for FinTech’s to truly have an impact on people’s lives is by working together.

“Bitpanda White Label, our investing-as-a-service solution, gives our B2B partners access to the whole Bitpanda infrastructure in a modular and individual way.”