European Bank Ventures into Crypto With Bitcoin (BTC), XRP, Other Digital Assets

Through a planned partnership with leading European cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda, Raiffeisenlandesbank NÖ-Wien, a member of Austria’s top banking group, has become the first major traditional bank in the European Union to enter the world of digital assets.

RLB NÖ-Wien is poised to break new ground by including cryptocurrencies and other asset classes in its digital investing offering, which will be a first among traditional banks in the EU.

RLB NÖ-Wien will join the list of banks such as the German digital bank N26, German cloud banking platform Mambu, UK fintech Plum, Italian neo-bank Hype, and more that have introduced investment platforms via Bitpanda tech.

Currently, Bitpanda covers more than 2,500 assets spread across five asset classes, including cryptocurrency, stocks, exchange-traded funds, metals and commodities. Bitcoin, XRP and many other cryptocurrencies are supported by Bitpanda.

Mix of traditional finance and blockchain

The mix between traditional finance and blockchain is producing much-desired results.

Franklin Templeton’s money-market fund, the Franklin on-chain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), which was established in 2021 and made available to the public last year, now has around $270 million in total assets. The fund processes transactions and keeps track of ownership using the Stellar blockchain network.

In a similar development, a renowned Swiss financial firm, PostFinance, teamed up with Sygnum Bank earlier this month to offer Bitcoin investments to its clients.