Bitpanda paused new UK user onboarding in 2023 due to stricter FCA regulations.
With the latest FCA approval, the firm can now resume expansion and onboard new users.
Austrian crypto platform Bitpanda has made a strong comeback in the United Kingdom after bagging fresh approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The news was shared in a recent by Cointelegraph, coming after the company’s expansion plans for the country were put on hold in 2023, at a time when it also had to pause new user onboarding.
By and large, this approval sets the company back on track to resume its expansion. That is, while also offering UK investors access to over 500 crypto assets, along with services like staking, savings plans, and crypto indexes.
Bitpanda’s Regulatory and Expansion Journey
All was going well with Bitpanda and its operations up until October 2023, when the FCA introduced its Financial Promotions (FinProm) Regime. At least, it has operated as a registered crypto custody provider for business clients in the UK since 2021.
The new regime, however, brought noticeable changes to the UK crypto marketing rules, forcing Bitpanda to pause onboarding new UK users while it worked to comply with the stricter regulations.
During this period, however, the platform confirmed that its existing customers could still access their accounts, even though new registrations were not processed.
Interestingly, the FinProm regulations did not in any way derail Bitpanda’s expansion goals. In fact, it used the period to properly align itself with the regulatory environment of the UK, which in itself was fast changing as well.
On January 27, Coinspeaker reported that Bitpanda had a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework. This license means that Bitpanda may now operate across all 27 EU member states.
Crypto Offerings in Focus
According to Deputy CEO Enzersdorfer-Konrad, Bitpanda’s UK crypto offering will not be different from what it offers in Europe. In short, the platform will not be offering any UK-specific coins. This move will help it to stay compliant with MiCA and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Coinbase, Crypto.com, and , who have all been delisting some tokens.
By reclaiming its presence in the crypto market of the UK, Bitpanda would be hoping to compete on a high level by making its services ever accessible and also compliant.