Fibank Partners With Bitpanda to Offer In-App Crypto Trading in Bulgaria

Bulgaria-based First Investment Bank (Fibank) has partnered with Austrian crypto infrastructure provider Bitpanda GmbH to introduce digital asset trading directly within its My Fibank mobile application ¹. The rollout makes Fibank the first commercial bank in Bulgaria to offer retail customers direct access to crypto asset trading capabilities ¹.

Under the agreement, Fibank clients will access Bitpanda's trading infrastructure round the clock after completing an approval process, with trade minimums set at €1 ¹. Bitpanda will deliver the custody, liquidity, and operational execution for the service, and customer access remains subject to Bitpanda's eligibility terms ¹. The bank highlighted that the digital assets do not feature deposit guarantees or compensation schemes associated with traditional banking products ¹.

Expanding European Bank Integrations

Fibank, the largest Bulgarian-owned credit institution with regional branches in Cyprus and Albania, aims to bridge conventional banking and retail digital assets across its base of more than one million clients ¹. Fibank Chief Executive Nikola Bakalov stated that the integration operates in alignment with relevant European regulatory mandates ¹.

Bitpanda Enterprise, which provides crypto-as-a-service infrastructure to institutional partners including Société Générale, Deutsche Börse Group, and select Raiffeisen entities, acts as the underlying execution platform ¹. Nadeem Ladki, Global Head of Bitpanda Enterprise, noted that European banks are increasingly stepping into digital asset distribution as customer adoption matures ¹. At the time of writing, the broader digital asset market stands at $2.77 trillion, with $BTC trading around $83,290.