Austrian fintech unicorn Bitpanda has secured its third license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, further expanding its regulatory footprint across the bloc.
Bitpanda announced on April 10 that it would receive a new MiCA license from Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA), its third after approvals from regulators in Germany and Malta.
Its latest approval marks “another step toward building the most regulated crypto platform in Europe,” the exchange said in an announcement on X.
Source: Bitpanda
MiCA, which took full effect on Dec. 30, 2024, is designed to provide a harmonized legal framework for crypto asset service providers (CASPs) across the EU. Despite this goal, Bitpanda’s pursuit of multiple licenses raises questions about how consistently MiCA is being interpreted and enforced across the bloc.
Bitpanda’s MiCA collection story
Vienna-headquartered Bitpanda was one of the first crypto asset service providers (CASP) to receive a MiCA license after the framework entered into full force.
Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) was the first regulator to issue a MiCA license for Bitpanda, the firm announced on Jan. 23.
According to Bitpanda’s announcement on LinkedIn, it subsequently secured another MiCA license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
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“Following yesterday’s announcement of our first MiCAR license, this second license sends a clear message: Bitpanda is setting the standard as Europe’s most secure and well-regulated crypto platform,” the company wrote.
Bitpanda announced receiving a MiCA license from the MFSA in a LinkedIn post. Source: LinkedIn posting date extractor
At the time of publication, none of the relevant regulators — Austria’s FMA, Germany’s BaFin, or Malta’s MFSA — maintain publicly available registries showing which firms have received MiCA licenses.
Data from Austria’s Financial Market Authority on Bitpanda’s licensing. Source: FMA
According to Austria’s FMA records, Bitpanda currently holds four different approvals in Austria and Germany for entities including Bitpanda Asset Management GmbH, Bitpanda Financial Services GmbH, Bitpanda GmbH and Bitpanda Payments GmbH.
Does MiCA provide for multiple licenses in EU states?
Proposed in 2020, the MiCA framework is designed to set comprehensive regulations for CASPs across the EU, creating “uniform EU market rules for crypto-assets,” according to a key MiCA regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority.
Despite MiCA’s aim to harmonize crypto regulation across the EU, Bitpanda’s pursuit of multiple licenses suggests regulatory inconsistencies may still exist among member states.
Cointelegraph approached Bitpanda for comment regarding its approach to securing multiple MiCA licenses but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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