Bitpanda obtains a cryptocurrency license in Norway to expand into Europe

Bitpanda, one of Europe’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges headquartered in Vienna, is one of the first foreign companies to obtain a Virtual Asset Provider (VASP) license in Norway. Debate advertisement This happened on October 19 on the company’s official account X (formerly Twitter).

Bitpanda holds similar licenses in a number of European countries including Austria, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Sweden. According to Bitpanda’s Executive Vice President, Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, the registration in Norway represents another step in the company’s expansion within Europe:

In May 2023, Norway, which is still outside the European Union, indicated that it could go its own way in regulating crypto assets. In its annual report, the country’s central bank warned that the upcoming EU-level Markets for Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation “may not meet all the regulatory needs of cryptocurrencies.”

Meanwhile, some major cryptocurrency exchanges are still facing issues with European regulatory bodies. In September, New York-based Gemini decided to withdraw from the Netherlands, citing its inability to meet regulatory requirements. However, such problems do not only affect the European Union. The UK Financial Conduct Authority recently added 143 new companies to its warning list of unregistered asset providers.