Raiffeisen's 18 million customers just got a front-row seat to crypto 🎟️

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is opening cryptocurrency trading to roughly 18 million customers across 11 European markets through a group-wide partnership with Vienna-based Bitpanda, the companies said Wednesday. Bitpanda Enterprise will supply the digital asset infrastructure that RBI's network banks can plug into to roll out crypto services, though individual banks will set their own offerings and timing based on local regulatory and market conditions.

Demand for digital assets across RBI's footprint has grown steadily, according to the bank. CEO Michael Höllerer framed the partnership as a customer-driven response. "As a customer-centric bank, we are committed to meeting our customers' needs in the best possible way," he said. Bitpanda co-CEO Christian Trumme appeared alongside Höllerer in materials announcing the deal.

The rollout remains in early stages, a Bitpanda spokesperson said, with additional details expected as individual markets are confirmed. Bitpanda, which holds authorization under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), operates a brokerage platform already integrated with several traditional financial institutions. It declined to comment on other ongoing bank discussions, calling them confidential.

The agreement extends a crypto integration RBI first launched with Austria's Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien in 2024. That pilot established the technical and regulatory groundwork that the group-wide deployment now builds on, RBI and Bitpanda said. Expansion to 11 markets marks a significant scaling of that earlier program, though the banks emphasized that compliance with differing national rules will shape the pace.

Cointelegraph reported Wednesday that banks now account for 23% of providers on the EU's MiCA crypto-asset registry, underscoring how traditional lenders have become an increasingly visible segment of the bloc's regulated digital-asset sector. RBI's move via Bitpanda adds one of Central and Eastern Europe's largest banking groups to that growing list of mainstream entrants offering digital-asset access directly to retail customers.