A major bank in the European Union, RLB NÖ-Wien, has entered into a partnership with Bitpanda to provide cryptocurrency investment services to its customers, days after the European Parliament approved the MiCA rule, the first detailed regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
RLB NÖ-Wien, short for Raiffeisenlandesbank NÖ-Wien, plans to debut its investment services in cryptocurrencies, but also equities, ETFs, commodities and precious metals.
The services will be provided through Bitpanda’s “digital Investment-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution”.
These new services place RLB NÖ-Wien as the first in the list of major banks within the European Union that decide to offer cryptocurrency investments, following the development with MiCA.
MiCA is a turning point
The approval of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act (MiCA) regulatory framework by the European Parliament on April 20 is seen as a turning point in Europe for the cryptocurrency industry, which has long been battling against the vague regulatory guidelines in place in most countries, including the US.
The regulatory framework, MiCA, details the parameters under which cryptocurrency activities can be regulated across countries in the European region.
The EU Council is expected to adopt the regulatory framework, MiCA, by next month. Then, next June it will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and subsequently come into full force, as a law, from January 2025.
Bringing Banks to Cryptos
Many expect that the clarity offered by the regulatory framework, MiCA, will drive even more banking institutions towards cryptocurrencies, as it will allow them to participate in the emerging industry more easily and with more security and transparency.
With RLB NÖ-Wien leading the movement, many other banking companies are expected to follow suit.
As a reminder, German bank, DZ Bank, announced plans last February to include cryptocurrencies in its asset management service offering.
Also, in October, a neo bank, N26, had announced that it was launching cryptocurrency trading for its customers in Austria.
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