FRANKFURT, Feb 5, 2026, 16:12 CET
- Deutsche Börse’s 360T has teamed up with Austria’s Bitpanda to link 3DX with Bitpanda’s crypto offerings for institutional clients
- The firms framed the deal as a quicker, more cost-effective way for banks to add crypto under the EU’s MiCAR rulebook
- Bitpanda is stepping up its institutional efforts amid renewed media scrutiny over earlier BaFin findings and internal audit alerts at its German branch
Deutsche Börse’s foreign exchange and digital assets arm 360T teamed up with Austrian crypto broker Bitpanda on Tuesday to broaden institutional crypto trading across Europe. The collaboration connects 3DX — 360T’s MiCAR-regulated crypto-asset trading platform — with Bitpanda’s suite of digital-asset services.
The deal is crucial as European banks and brokers rush to integrate crypto trading into their current setups without running afoul of regulations. MiCAR — the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation — establishes licensing and conduct standards for companies offering crypto services.
360T said the integration aims to reduce operational workload and accelerate time-to-market for institutions wanting to manage liquidity within the 360T platform. Bitpanda CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad noted, “Partnering with 3DX is an important step as we continue to scale our partner solutions.” 360T CEO Carlo Kölzer added that clients can introduce digital-asset offerings “without having to build sophisticated infrastructure themselves.”
In an interview with Handelsblatt, Enzersdorfer-Konrad revealed that Bitpanda will channel currency conversions tied to crypto sales through 360T to lock in better pricing for clients. The company might also divert some trades to Deutsche Börse platforms if they offer more competitive rates. According to the paper, Bitpanda currently links up with 15 trading venues and serves roughly seven million retail customers along with institutional investors.
This stands in contrast to major crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, which usually operate both their own trading platforms and retail-facing services.
Bitpanda’s push to woo institutional clients faces headwinds from a turbulent compliance backdrop. Documents from a BaFin special audit of the company’s German branch revealed flaws in risk management, IT systems, and outsourcing practices—where third parties handle crucial operations. Internal auditors flagged skill shortages and “ongoing breaches” of regulatory rules. The findings also noted internal criticism of documents that seemed drafted using ChatGPT, without proper quality control. profil tagesschau
Nikolai Badenhoop, who leads the “Sustainable Finance Law in Europe” research group at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research in Frankfurt, described the reported findings as “serious,” highlighting that the weaknesses struck at the core responsibilities of a financial firm. Bitpanda responded by noting it undergoes regular supervisory and external audits, adding that any issues uncovered are usually addressed through action plans and governance procedures.
In February, Finanzwissen gave Bitpanda’s brokerage service an 89% rating, noting the platform charges a 1 euro fee per order for its “depot” product. The review highlighted Bitpanda’s regulation by Austria’s FMA and Germany’s BaFin. It also pointed out the platform’s access to thousands of shares and ETFs—baskets of assets traded like stocks. Finanzwissen
360T, in a joint announcement with Bitpanda, reported having over 3,000 buy-side customers and more than 200 liquidity providers spanning 80 countries. Bitpanda added it serves over seven million registered users and supports more than 650 crypto-assets, with offices in Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich.
The firms haven’t provided a timeline for extending their cooperation past the initial integration. Still, 360T said both are looking into deeper collaboration on connectivity, trading workflows, and infrastructure. For Bitpanda, the main benefit is faster institutional distribution. But the flip side is that trust and controls might end up being the real product, with regulators and counterparties constantly challenging them.
