Vienna-based digital investment platform Bitpanda is to open a blockchain research & development hub, employing 30 full-time developers.
Bitpanda will invest €10 million over the next two years in the facility, that will use different blockchains to build an infrastructure for its own multi-asset investment platform.
The new distributed blockchain team will receive dedicated training along with knowledge-swapping sessions with the existing team members, including Bitpanda’s chief technology officer, Christian Trummer.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to transform people’s way of life - something we’re seeing more of every day through its rapid adoption," says Trummer. "Around the world, organisations that facilitate its growth are becoming more prominent, leading to incredible breakthroughs and game-changing innovation. At Bitpanda, we’re focused on pushing this wave of mainstream adoption forward because we believe this is the technology of the future."
Bitpanda surpassed several milestones in the past year, including growing customers to more than 2.5 million users and 500 employees, as well as receiving one of the largest Series B rounds in Europe with an additional extension in May.
Throughout 2020, the firm opened offices in France, Spain, Turkey and Italy, opening an innovation hub in Krakow in December that saw team members double to 500. The digital investment platform now intends to expand into new European markets, with plans to open a tech hub and office in Barcelona, alongside future talent hubs in London, Milan, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul.