What happened? Bitpanda Enterprise has partnered with IG Europe to support the broker’s crypto trading offering for European investors, marking another step in the convergence of traditional trading platforms and digital asset infrastructure.
Under the agreement, IG Europe will use Bitpanda’s institutional infrastructure for liquidity, trading connectivity and market data.
The move allows IG Europe to expand crypto access while keeping the offering within its regulated operating framework, according to the announcement.
IG Europe is part of IG Group, the FTSE 100-listed trading and investment company. IG Group serves more than 1.3 million customers worldwide across brands including IG, tastytrade, Freetrade and Independent Reserve, with products spanning leveraged trading, stock trading, investments and cryptocurrency trading.
The partnership comes as European brokers face growing demand for crypto exposure from clients who prefer established financial platforms over standalone crypto exchanges.
Bitpanda Enterprise, the institutional arm of Bitpanda, provides digital asset infrastructure for banks, brokers, fintechs, trading firms and other financial institutions. Its offering includes investment infrastructure, liquidity, custody, payments, stablecoins and tokenization tools.
Nadeem Ladki, global head of Bitpanda Enterprise, said the company’s goal is to help financial institutions bring digital assets to market safely and at scale.
“Supporting IG Europe, a leading regulated broker, reinforces our position as the infrastructure partner of choice for institutions building digital asset capabilities,” Ladki told AlexaBlockchain.
Esteve Jane, managing director of IG Europe, said the partnership will broaden IG’s product offering across Europe.
“Our clients want crypto exposure from a platform they trust. This partnership delivers it,” Jane said.
The deal reflects a broader shift in crypto distribution
Instead of launching standalone crypto exchanges, traditional brokers are increasingly plugging into specialist infrastructure providers. That model can reduce build-out costs, accelerate product launches and keep customer relationships inside existing regulated platforms.
For users, the appeal is straightforward.
They can access crypto markets through brands they already use for trading or investing, rather than moving assets and personal data to a separate crypto-native platform.
For brokers, the opportunity is also commercial.
Crypto can widen the product mix, improve engagement outside traditional market hours and help platforms respond to younger and more self-directed investors. As per Bitpanda’s 2025 European crypto adoption report, one in seven retail investors already hold crypto, while 12% plan to invest.
The timing also matters because Europe now has a more unified crypto rulebook.
The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, introduced common rules for crypto-assets, including transparency, disclosure, authorization and supervision requirements.
That regulatory backdrop is making infrastructure-led partnerships more attractive for financial institutions.
A broker can focus on distribution, customer service and compliance, while an infrastructure provider handles trading rails, liquidity access, custody integrations and market data.
IG’s crypto push is already underway
The Bitpanda deal does not appear to be IG Group’s first move into digital assets.
In May 2025, IG launched spot crypto trading in the United Kingdom through a partnership with Uphold, offering access to dozens of digital tokens. The company described it as part of a broader product roadmap in its 2025 annual reporting.
IG also expanded its crypto footprint through acquisitions.
In September 2025, IG Group acquired Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve for A$178 million. The deal was aimed at expanding its digital asset services and presence in Asia-Pacific.
The Bitpanda Enterprise partnership now extends that strategy into continental Europe.
It suggests IG is not treating crypto as a single-market experiment. Instead, it is building regional access through a combination of partnerships, acquisitions and infrastructure integrations.
Similar moves across traditional finance
Bitpanda has positioned its enterprise business as a bridge between traditional finance and crypto markets.
LBBW, Deutsche Börse’s 360T, LuLu Financial Holdings, Banco BS2 and Lydia are some of the financial institutions and platforms already using its infrastructure.
Bitpanda has also worked with Coinbase to help banks and fintechs in Europe offer digital assets to customers, according to a 2023 CoinDesk report.
The trend is not limited to brokers.
In 2024, Deutsche Bank partnered with Bitpanda to process customer deposits and withdrawals for the Austrian crypto broker in Germany. Reuters framed the deal as another sign of crypto moving closer to mainstream finance, while noting that regulators remain alert to risks from deeper links between crypto and traditional markets.
These examples show a common pattern.
Traditional financial firms want exposure to digital asset demand, but many prefer not to build crypto trading, custody and liquidity systems entirely in-house.
That creates a growing market for infrastructure providers that can offer modular crypto rails under regulated conditions.
The bigger picture
The IG Europe partnership reaffirms the fact that digital assets are being integrated into existing financial platforms.
Crypto trading is moving from specialist exchanges into multi-asset brokerages, banking apps and investment platforms.
That shift could make crypto more accessible to mainstream investors.
But it also raises the bar for infrastructure providers.
Brokers and banks will need reliable liquidity, strong market data, resilient custody arrangements and clear compliance processes. Investors will also expect the same standards of execution, transparency and platform stability they associate with traditional financial products.
The above article “Is IG Europe’s Bitpanda Deal a Sign Brokers Are Moving Deeper Into Crypto?” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/is-ig-europes-bitpanda-deal-a-sign-brokers-are-moving-deeper-into-crypto/
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Image Credits: Bitpanda Enterprise, IG Europe, Shutterstock, Canva, Wiki Commons