European Digital Bank N26 announced its decision to introduce cryptocurrency trading. The feature was first launched in Austria where customers will be able to trade up to 100 cryptocurrencies.
The central bank in Berlin, with the support of Peter Thiel, plans to expand the service, called the N26 Crypto, to other countries within the next six months. Soon, up to 196 tokens will be offered to customers.
This feature is powered by the White Label producer of Bitpanda’s White Label app. Currently, N26 charges a transaction fee of 1.5% on Bitcoin and 2.5% on all other cryptocurrencies.
The $9 billion European Digital Bank has no local offices and operates only online. Despite the bank’s high valuation, it had a tough few years, as it failed to penetrate the UK and US markets and had to spend more on tightening anti-money laundering (AML) measures under regulatory pressure.
Customers can buy and sell tokens but cannot transfer assets to other digital wallets as the bank only offers cryptocurrency trading as a wealth building option.
Is N26 late to the party?
Major fintech groups such as PayPal and Revolut have already provided crypto assets to their clients. N26 entered the cryptocurrency market quite late.
“We believe that cryptocurrencies will continue to be a prominent part of the financial ecosystem,” said Jill Bien Rosa, Chief Product Officer, N26. He added that N26 users are very interested in cryptocurrencies. Interest is still very high, even in a bear market.
This year, Bitcoin and other tokens have suffered major losses as investors leave the market due to concerns about rising interest rates and a lack of liquidity.
While traditional banking institutions have shunned cryptocurrencies due to concerns about their high volatility and involvement in fraud, N26, which has a banking license from the European Union, is putting its toes in this space and believes it will become more popular.