Europe’s $9 billion digital bank N26 launches crypto trading service amid bear market

cnbc.com:

European digital bank N26 announced Thursday it is launching a crypto trading service, starting with Austria as the first market for the product.

The service, called N26 Crypto, is set to become available to N26's Austrian clients in the coming weeks and will initially include 100 tokens including bitcoin and ether. N26 plans to roll out the feature to users in other markets over the next six months and eventually expand its token offering to include a total 194 coins.

Gilles BianRosa, N26's chief product officer, told CNBC the bank's crypto brokerage feature allows users to «dip their toes into the water in a way that's not frothy.»

To make a trade, users select a coin and specify how much they want to buy or sell. Once they complete their order, cash is deducted from their main account balance and appears alongside the token of their choice. Customers can also «drag and drop» funds from their main account into their crypto portfolio, or vice versa, N26 said.

Berlin-based N26 is a bit of a latecomer to the crypto rush. Fintech rivals PayPal and Revolut have long offered their users the ability to buy and sell digital assets, and payment leviathans Visa and Mastercard also sell their clients crypto and so-called «Web3» services. On Wednesday, Brazilian digital bank Nubank launched its own token, called Nucoin.

«Our users are extremely interested in crypto,» BianRosa said in an interview. «That interest remains super high, even in a bear market.»

N26's crypto foray could have been better timed. Bitcoin and other tokens are deep in the red this year after investors fled the market due to fears over higher interest rates and liquidity constraints. While main street banks have steered clear of crypto due to concerns over its