Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has appointed Oliver Stauber, the former chief legal officer of Bitpanda and prior head of KuCoin EU, as the CEO of its new European entity, Bitget EU. His primary mandate is to lead the exchange's expansion under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and establish its new European headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
The entity applied for a MiCA license in Austria in 2025 and expects to receive regulatory approval in the second quarter of 2026. Bitget EU will not offer any services within the European Economic Area (EEA) until this authorization is formally granted. To ensure compliance, the platform will implement strict geographic controls, including IP address detection and enhanced Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, to ring-fence EEA users from the global, offshore Bitget platform and prevent unlicensed access.
Stauber emphasized that Bitget EU will operate as a broker, acting as the counterparty to all client trades while sourcing liquidity from independent providers under best-execution principles. The company will apply rigorous token listing criteria, offering only assets that meet MiCA's standards for whitepapers, liquidity, and consumer disclosures. "We are currently conducting a rigorous audit of our inventory," Stauber said. "Products that do not meet EU standards for market integrity or fail to provide sufficient consumer disclosures will not be offered to EEA users."
The Vienna headquarters was chosen for its central location, multilingual talent pool, and stable regulatory environment, positioning it as a governance and compliance hub for EEA operations. Once authorized, existing EEA users on Bitget's global platform will be invited to migrate to the new, fully compliant Bitget EU entity.
