Vienna-based cryptocurrency broker Bitpanda is pivoting its global growth strategy towards providing infrastructure to banks and financial institutions, while also preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in 2026. The company, which reported adjusted revenue of €371 million ($430 million) for 2025—a 16% increase from the previous year—is moving beyond its core European retail business to target institutional clients worldwide.
Vishal Sacheendran, Bitpanda's Vice President of Global Markets Strategy and Operations, explained the strategic shift in an interview with CoinDesk. "It’s about having a footprint in more markets," he said, noting that launching a consumer app in every region is not always viable, especially in markets dominated by global exchanges. Instead, Bitpanda aims to leverage the existing distribution networks of banks. "We don’t want to compete with exchanges everywhere," Sacheendran stated. "There’s a big segment of the market that still trusts banks."
This institutional focus was formalized in March with the launch of Bitpanda Enterprise, a new offering that bundles the firm's API-based investment infrastructure, institutional-grade custody, trading liquidity, settlement tools, and payment rails for crypto and stablecoins into a single platform for banks, brokers, and asset managers. The platform also includes token infrastructure for stablecoin issuance and systems to support tokenized assets like bonds and real estate.
A key example of this B2B model is Bitpanda's partnership with RAKBANK, one of the UAE's oldest lenders, which launched crypto trading for retail customers in July by integrating Bitpanda's platform. Sacheendran believes such deals create a domino effect: "When a top-tier bank starts offering it, the rest of the market takes notice."
Bitpanda's regulatory standing, built under the EU's comprehensive MiCA framework, is a central part of its pitch to partners in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The company is also weighing a public listing, with reports indicating a potential IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the first half of 2026, targeting a valuation between €4 billion and €5 billion.
While evaluating new products like derivatives trading, Sacheendran emphasized that tokenization will be a major theme. However, Bitpanda will not issue its own stablecoin, preferring to provide the infrastructure for institutions that do.
This strategic evolution aligns with a broader industry commentary suggesting crypto's "rock-and-roll" hype era is giving way to a focus on building robust, institutional-grade infrastructure. This shift is seen as fundamentally bullish, enabling broader adoption and paving the way for innovative, grassroots applications built on these new financial rails.
