Bitpanda Enterprise and Fibank Partner to Bring Crypto Investing to 1 Million Bulgarian Customers

Bitpanda Enterprise and Fibank have partnered to integrate cryptocurrency investing directly into the My Fibank mobile application. For fintech professionals, this represents a significant milestone as the first major Bulgarian bank adopts a white-label crypto solution, signaling the continued migration of digital asset services from niche exchanges into established retail banking ecosystems.

What was announced

Fibank, also known as First Investment Bank, is set to integrate digital asset trading capabilities into its existing "My Fibank" app. The partnership will allow the bank’s customer base of more than one million users to access and manage crypto investments alongside their traditional banking services within a single interface. The service is expected to launch in early 2027 and will be powered by the infrastructure provided by Bitpanda Enterprise.

This integration marks Fibank as the first financial institution in Bulgaria to provide such access, with all crypto asset services provided solely by Bitpanda. The technical implementation utilizes Bitpanda’s "Investing-as-a-Service" model, which allows traditional banks to offer regulated trading of digital assets without building the underlying technology from scratch. The move reflects a broader shift in consumer behavior; while the initial wave of crypto adoption was largely driven by crypto-native platforms, digital assets are increasingly being viewed as a standard component of a diversified financial portfolio that users expect to manage through their primary banking provider.

The early 2027 launch date provides a clear timeline for the rollout, which aims to combine the technological agility of a fintech unicorn with the established trust and regulatory compliance of a major regional bank. By embedding these services, Fibank intends to meet the evolving financial habits of its customers while adhering to applicable European requirements.

"Digital assets are becoming part of mainstream finance, and banks are playing a central role in that shift. At Bitpanda Enterprise, we provide the infrastructure and technology for that. Together with Fibank, we are putting that into practice in Bulgaria, bringing crypto to more than one million customers through a banking experience they already know and trust."

Nadeem Ladki, Global Head of Bitpanda Enterprise.

The companies involved

First Investment Bank, commonly referred to as Fibank, is one of the largest credit institutions in Bulgaria. The bank has focused on developing its digital platform, My Fibank, to offer a wide range of financial solutions to its retail and corporate clients. Nikola Bakalov serves as the CEO and Chairman of the MB at First Investment Bank. The institution has positioned itself as a leader in the Bulgarian market by being the first to bridge the gap between traditional banking and the digital asset space at this scale.

Bitpanda Enterprise is the specialized B2B division of Bitpanda, a prominent European digital asset platform. It provides the technical infrastructure and regulatory framework necessary for banks, neo-banks, and traditional brokers to offer trading services for cryptocurrencies, stocks, and other assets. By offering a plug-and-play white-label solution, Bitpanda Enterprise enables its partners to enter the digital asset market with reduced technical overhead. The company has been active in expanding its footprint across Europe and other international markets, acting as the underlying engine for several high-profile banking integrations.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked Bitpanda’s expansion into the institutional and white-label space as it seeks to become the primary infrastructure provider for bank-led crypto services. In 2026, the publication reported on a similar strategic move in the Middle East when Rakbank Islamic Launches In-App Bitcoin Trading via Bitpanda Partnership. That deal saw Rakbank Islamic utilize Bitpanda’s infrastructure to enable Bitcoin trading within its Islamic banking platform, demonstrating the versatility of the Bitpanda Enterprise stack across different regulatory and cultural banking environments. These recurring partnerships highlight a consistent strategy of embedding crypto services into existing banking apps rather than competing with them for user attention.

What this means

This partnership underscores the reality that the "crypto-native" era of retail investing is giving way to a "bank-led" era. For the broader industry, Fibank’s move puts immediate pressure on other regional players in Southeast Europe to modernize their digital offerings or risk losing assets under management to more agile incumbents. It also raises questions about the long-term viability of standalone crypto exchanges in markets where traditional banks can offer the same assets with higher perceived security and integrated tax reporting. As European regulations provide a clearer framework for digital assets, the barrier to entry for banks is falling, making infrastructure providers like Bitpanda the primary beneficiaries of this institutional pivot.