Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is expanding its Bitpanda partnership group-wide, the bank announced on September 23, 2026. The expansion gives RBI network banks in Central and Eastern Europe, subsidiaries in 11 countries with about 18 million customers, the infrastructure to launch Bitcoin and crypto trading tailored to local regulation. RBI CEO Michael Höllerer pointed to "growing demand for crypto assets."

From an Austrian Pilot to a Regional Rollout

The service is already live in Austria, where it has run since a 2024 pilot. RBI said the service is set to expand to Albania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in the first half of 2027.

RBI has not disclosed timing for launches at its other network banks beyond Austria, Albania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Tailoring the service to local regulation means each RBI network bank launches Bitcoin and crypto trading under its own national rules. The infrastructure to launch sits at group level, while the timing for each of the 11 countries stays with the subsidiary.

A Bank App, Not a Wallet

The Michael Höllerer quote on growing demand for crypto assets appears in both Bitcoin Magazine and Cointelegraph. Bitcoin Magazine frames the offering specifically as Bitcoin trading, while Cointelegraph and AMBCrypto describe it more generally as crypto trading.

The difference matters for customers in Albania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, because a Bitcoin trading service and a crypto trading service can list very different assets once the service reaches those markets in the first half of 2027.

The Bitpanda partnership gives RBI network banks the infrastructure to launch Bitcoin trading for their own customers, so the service runs through RBI network banks rather than through a wallet the customer controls.

Why It Matters

Bitcoin Breakdown reads the RBI expansion as a custody test, because giving subsidiaries in 11 countries with about 18 million customers the infrastructure to launch Bitcoin trading puts bitcoin inside RBI network banks rather than in customer wallets. Trading bitcoin through a bank means customers hold a balance at RBI network banks rather than keys of their own. Still, a 2024 Austrian pilot growing into a regional rollout reflects the growing demand for crypto assets that Michael Höllerer described, and that demand can give these institutions and their customers a first look at Bitcoin. Bitcoin Breakdown believes the real payoff for those 18 million customers comes when bitcoin bought through RBI network banks moves to keys they control.