Bitpanda: “We aim to expand institutional partnerships”

The Cryptonomist interviewed Joaquin Canals, Head of Institutional Partnerships Southern Europe at Bitpanda Technology Solutions (BTS).

1. What are your priorities for your new role?

Building a targeted pipeline with banks, asset managers, and fintechs in Southern Europe. This year has marked a true turning point in terms of institutional demand: they have genuinely started to realize that their clients want secure access to digital assets. It’s about choosing whether to meet that demand or to let clients move their money elsewhere, resulting in a loss of revenue.

We will continue to adapt our regulated and modular API stack to local needs, accelerating time-to-market for partners through clear delivery playbooks and compliance integrated into the design.

2. Bitpanda has experienced rapid growth across Europe. What are the company’s strategic objectives for the next 12 months, and how do you plan to strengthen your presence in key markets?

For BTS, there are three key objectives for the next 12 months: expand institutional partnerships using Bitpanda Technology Solutions; broaden access to assets within a single world-class user experience; deepen localization so that partners can launch their own services more quickly and with lower operational risk. 

For Bitpanda, the mission remains the same: we want to bring our market-leading offering to an increasing number of markets and provide people with a simple and secure way to invest in digital assets.

3. Italy has become an increasingly important market for fintech and digital assets. How does Bitpanda view its role in supporting Italian institutions and companies in this sector?

Offering custody and brokerage services with banking standards, integrable into current core banking platforms and mobile apps, so that Italian institutions can offer digital assets without having to build the infrastructure from scratch.

We bring with us the experience gained with leading banks and a roadmap for tokenized assets, aligned with the demand of Italian clients.

4. Bitpanda’s white label infrastructure has already attracted significant partners such as banks and neobanks. What makes your technology particularly appealing to traditional financial operators?

Our reputation in Europe is an advantage. We have been operating for nearly 11 years, we are an experienced and regulated infrastructure provider, and we offer a product designed to ensure flexibility. Our partners can white-label the parts of our infrastructure they need and develop their own offering at their preferred pace, either quickly or gradually. Partners gain speed, compliance, and scalability in a single platform.

5. Regulatory clarity remains a fundamental issue in Europe with the upcoming implementation of MiCA. How is Bitpanda positioning itself to remain compliant with regulations while continuing to innovate?

Compliance is integrated into the product. We align architecture, reporting, and controls with the MiCA regulation and national regimes, so that partners inherit a compliant operational model. Innovation then occurs at the application level, without compromising compliance — a fundamentally important aspect for Bitpanda and our partners.

6. From your perspective, how is the relationship between fintech and traditional banks evolving in Europe: is it more about competition or collaboration today?

We are decidedly focused on collaboration — it’s the principle on which BTS is based. Traditional banks know that their clients want to trade digital assets; they see when a client moves money to a trading platform, so they know exactly what revenue opportunity they are missing out on. The question they must now ask themselves is: do we want to develop our own offering, or seek a partner to help us launch more quickly? It’s the perfect environment for collaboration: there is a concrete need and an evident advantage for both parties.

7. Finally, what is your vision for Bitpanda in the coming years? Are there specific milestones or innovations that particularly excite you?

More partners. More assets. More markets. We aim to grow BTS on a global scale and, earlier this month, we announced our first partnership in Latin America. We know our offering is world-class and we intend to prove it over the next 12 months.