Bitpanda Gains Crypto License in Spain

Bitpanda, a unicorn cryptocurrency startup based in Austria, has registered in Spain as a virtual currency exchange and digital asset custody service provider.

Officially announced on Tuesday, the European crypto startup officially entered the Bank of Spain’s registry for crypto companies on July 16.

With the new license, the crypto company is now regulated in five European countries: other than Spain, it is also licensed in Austria, France, Italy and Sweden.

Established in 2014, Bitpanda has turned itself into one of the largest European digital asset exchanges. It closed a funding round last August, raising $263 million. Then, it was valued at $4.1 billion, almost quadrupling its valuation in merely five months.

Additionally, Bitpanda entered the United Kingdom earlier this year acquiring London-based Trustology, a regulated institutional cryptocurrency custodian wallet provider. However, that deal attracted regulatory attention as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning on the same day, stating that it is closely monitoring the acquisition.

“The [Money Laundering Regulations] do not include any provisions that allow the FCA to assess the fitness and propriety of beneficial owners or changes in control before a transaction is completed,” the regulator stated.

Meanwhile, other crypto exchanges are pushing to receive licenses within Europe. Binance, the largest crypto exchange in terms of the trading volume, gained approval from the French financial market regulator recently. On top of that, it received a green light from the regulators in Italy.

These crypto exchanges are receiving the license when the market price of cryptocurrencies went down significantly. Bitcoin decreased to the iconic price level of $20,000 last week but recovered over the weekend.

“As recent market developments have shown, where you buy your digital assets matters, and we are going to always be prioritizing the safety of our community, as we are working relentlessly to build the best and the safest investment platform in Europe and beyond,” said Eric Demuth, the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Bitpanda.