Cryptocurrency platform Bitpanda has relaunched in the UK, claiming to offer investors a wider range of crypto assets than any of its rivals.
The platform offers more than 600 crypto tokens, including established coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, new tokens and stablecoins.
It also offers crypto indices covering everything from memecoins to smartcontract sector leaders.
Coinbase, in comparison, offers around 240 crypto asset types.
Bitpanda’s chief executive Eric Demuth, told This is Money: ‘Customers want a broad range of cryptos available, and they don’t want to have to use 10 different exchanges to find all of the crypto tokens.
‘They want everything in one place.’
Alongside its suite of tokens, Bitpanda will also offer staking and savings plans.
Crypto staking allows users to get crypto rewards for allowing their crypto to be used to help the blockchain network run more smoothly.
Bitpanda chief executive Eric Demuth wants to offer customers a broad range of crypto assets
The platform also offers crypto market insights and educational resources for long-term investing.
The return to the UK comes two years after Bitpanda halted new registrations in Britain after the Financial Conduct Authority implemented new rules on financial promotion, meaning it needed to apply for a license.
‘Our approach was to not do the grey zone stuff,’ Demuth says. ‘We did this properly – we waited and waited, and talked to the regulators until we finally got the license.
‘It took a lot of preparation to get everything 100 per cent green lit.’
In February, Bitpanda received approval from the FCA to expand its UK operations. The firm has now rebuilt its website and UK offering.
Pantelis Kotopoulos, UK country director of Bitpanda, says: ‘UK investors deserve a platform that matches their ambition, and at Bitpanda we’ve built a platform that does exactly that.
‘We’re here to offer a real alternative – with more assets, a better and more intuitive user experience, and zero tolerance for shortcuts.’
The firm, founded in 2014, has more than seven million customers across Europe, where it holds multiple regulatory licenses and offers some 700 crypto tokens.
Demuth adds: ‘This is why we’ve been successful in Europe for 11 years, because we are the regulated player there.
‘This has been our main focus, to do everything the regulated way, talk to the regulators about everything so that we are compliant to work with the banks, and that creates trust and safety.’
The platform offers crypto market insights and educational resources for long term investing
Will crypto continue to rise?
Despite not being able to re-enter the UK market at the peak of the crypto mania seen earlier this year, Demuth says now is still a good time.
In recent months, Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies have maintained growth momentum and are continuing to hit record highs.
Demuth tells This is Money: ‘If you had asked me what the best-case scenario was for our industry, I would never have even thought about the current status.
‘This is beyond everyone’s expectation, and it is pretty much all coming from the US.’
‘What they did was put stablecoins and crypto as one of the key tenets of their financial and economic strategy. When the biggest financial power in the world does this, it has massive impact worldwide because the US sets the tone and standard,’ he says.
It’s only a matter of time before the changes happening in the US start happening across the Atlantic, Demuth adds.
‘Europe is always a bit slower when it comes to progressive adoption. But the financial industry is globally connected – if US banks are issuing their own stablecoins, you will see the same happening here a few years later.’
In the long term, Demuth belies crypto will become a ‘key pillar’ in the financial industry.
‘The big money is moving into the space, and this is why you see new all-time highs constantly over the past months,’ he adds.
With its retail platform, Bitpanda is also launching its business-focused infrastructure arm, Bitpanda technology solutions, which works with banks and fintechs to build white-label cryptocurrency infrastructure.
It already works with major European players like Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, Raiffeisen, and LBBW.
Alongside its launch, Bitpanda has agreed a multi-year partnership with Arsenal Football Club as its ‘official crypto trading partner’.
Demuth says: ‘We always want to associate with the best. This is our own approach, so we were looking of finding the right partner in the UK.’
‘[Arsenal] is exactly the kind of brand we want beside us as we enter one of the most important markets in global finance.’
Juliet Slot, Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, said: ‘[Bitpanda] shares our ambition and our drive to always move forward. As they launch in the UK for the first time, we’re delighted to be working together to support each other’s growth and sustained success.’
The firm has similarly partnered with other football clubs including Paris St Germain, Bayern Munich and AC Milan, as well as with the ATP tour.
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