The Business Model Behind Bitpanda: The First Austrian Unicorn
Who and what is Bitpanda?
Bitpanda is an Austrian company with headquarters in Vienna. Via Bitpanda's trading platform, cryptocurrencies, commodities, securities and ETFs can be traded via a mobile app. With a valuation of over four billion US dollars, Bitpanda 2021 was the first Unicorn from Austria. Bitpanda had almost 2.7 million customers and nearly 500 employees in 2021. The goal is to make investing accessible to all. Since then, the company has been working hard to redefine the concept of investing by developing simple and user-friendly financial products for everyone. Stocks, cryptocurrencies or precious metals - you can invest on the intuitive platform from €1.
Copyright: © Bitpanda
The company was founded in October 2014 under the name Coinimal by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek and Christian Trummer in Vienna, Austria.
At the end of September 2020, Bitpanda raised $52M dollars in a Series A investment round. Among the investors was Peter Thiel's Valar Venture.
On 6 October 2020, Bitpanda announced what it claims is the world's first true crypto index in partnership with MV Index Solution, a subsidiary of VanEck. At the end of October, Bitpanda announced a partnership with Raiffeisen Bank International to jointly bring the Pantos project to the banking industry.
At the beginning of March 2021, Bitpanda launched its own Visa debit card in cooperation with Contis. Unlike other crypto debit cards, digital assets can also be spent automatically using Contis' zero-balance technology and no longer need to be exchanged manually.
As recently as March, Bitpanda raised another $170M dollars in a Series B funding. This made Bitpanda the first Unicorn in Austria. Bitpanda also received a licence as a securities firm under the Securities Supervision Act (WAG 2018).
At the end of April, Bitpanda launched the product "BitpandaStocks" in beta phase, which allows trading stocks and ETFs from €1 and around the clock.
In June 2021, Bitpanda released their "white label" business model, which allows other companies to connect to the Bitpanda platform. It was also announced that Bitpanda has applied for a licence from Bafin to actively promote the German market.
At the beginning of August, it became known that Bitpanda would like to invest 10 million euros in a new Blockchain Research & Development Hub.
Five months after the Series B funding, Bitpanda raised another $263 million in a Series C funding. Bitpanda was valued at $4.1 billion in this funding round. The money will be used to further grow into one of Europe's leading investment platforms. At this time, Bitpanda also announced that it had reached the 3 million customer mark.
2 of 12 Business Model Patterns Behind Bitpanda
What are the mechanics behind Bitpandas's success and what business model patterns are used by the company? Below is a brief analysis of 2 of the 12 business model patterns used. See all patterns with our premium subscription.
Commision
Bitpanda earns money through fees that customers have to pay when depositing, withdrawing, exchanging and trading.
The surcharges for buying and selling cryptocurrencies and digital assets are already included in the prices we offer at Bitpanda. Prices are updated in real time. This makes the customer feel as if they are not paying any fees.
Layer Player
Bitpanda offers several value chains in one value creation step, which happens at Bitpanda with the different markets where trading can take place.
In the Layer Player business model, the focus is on one specific step of the industry value chain, exploiting economies of scale and the benefits of superior expertise and capabilities. The company is typically able to expand into other fields. Amazon has for instance started its business by selling books and later branched out into other areas such as CDs, DVDs and a very wide variety of other diverse products.
4 of 7 Things What Make Bitpanda Special
The company focuses on user-friendliness, security and the selection of financial products. The following are some of the points that are particular to Bitpanda.
1. Selection
At Bitpanda you will find 51 cryptocurrencies. Here, too, there are the popular sizes such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Dash, Dogecoin and Co. It is also possible to invest in shares ETFs and precious metals.
2. Registration
You register via email address and name, enter your place of residence and create an account. Only an e-mail address has to be entered. However, a photo ID and telephone number are required to verify the account.
3. Speed
With hardly any other provider can you trade faster than with Bitpanda. On the fully automated platform, Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are sent automatically as soon as you have confirmed the payment.
4. Easy Trading
Trading cryptocurrencies is very easy on Bitpanda. In addition to functioning as an exchange for cryptocurrencies, you can also get your cryptocurrency wallet from the provider. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash are traded. As a European company, Bitpanda only allows purchases within the EU. You can, on the other hand, sell your cryptocurrencies from anywhere in the world.
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