One of the largest FinTech mobile banks in Europe N26 has announced that it will be expanding into the crypto market sometime in 2022.
Valued at around $10B, the German banking startup has seen immense growth since its release in 2013. However, according to a report by Reuters, N26 suffered a setback due to restrictions imposed by BaFin, which is a regulatory authority in Germany.
More specifically, according to the same report, N26 received the order "to limit the number of customers it takes on to 50,000 a month and appointed a second special representative to monitor the bank", and was fined for a lack of "money-laundering controls."
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Co-founder of N26 Max Tayenthal told FT reporters that these particular regulatory measures have pushed the fintech company to expand into new horizons, specifically the crypto market.
Likewise, when asked about the recent setbacks and current situation of N26, he looked back at the expansion of the bank, stating:
"Should we have built trading and crypto instead of launching in the US? In hindsight, it might have been a smart idea…"
N26 has exited UK markets earlier in 2020, ceased operations in the United States in mid-November of 2021, and currently aims to explore its options in other parts of Europe. While still being closely monitored by BaFin, it’s unclear when exactly N26 will be implementing crypto support into their platform.
