360T and Bitpanda Link Up as Deutsche Börse Deepens Institutional Crypto

Why This Partnership Is About Infrastructure, Not New Products

The partnership announced this week between 360T and Bitpanda is less about launching another crypto offering and more about embedding digital assets into the core mechanics of Europe’s institutional markets. By connecting 360T’s 3DX trading venue with Bitpanda’s digital asset infrastructure, the deal gives banks a way to offer crypto services without rebuilding execution, liquidity, and post-trade systems from the ground up.

For Deutsche Börse Group, which owns 360T, the agreement extends a strategy that has been in motion for years: add new asset classes into workflows banks already rely on, rather than pushing clients toward standalone platforms. Crypto is now being treated in the same way FX, money markets, and other institutional products were introduced into existing systems.

Deutsche Börse acquired 360T in 2015 for €725 million, positioning the FX platform as a distribution layer for institutional trading activity. Since then, the group has steadily broadened what flows through that layer, with digital assets now joining currencies and rates as part of a unified institutional setup.

Investor Takeaway

How 360T Has Built Toward Institutional Crypto

The Bitpanda tie-up builds on a staged rollout rather than a sudden pivot. In early 2024, 360T introduced crypto non-deliverable forwards linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum, designed to mirror FX-style instruments instead of spot crypto trades. That structure allowed banks to gain exposure using familiar tools and controls.

In 2025, 360T followed with the launch of 3DX, a regulated, institutional-only crypto spot venue authorized in Germany. The platform was built on the same technology stack used across 360T’s FX business and deliberately avoided competing with banks for retail flow.

Later that year, Deutsche Börse added delivery-versus-payment settlement for crypto spot trading through Clearstream and Crypto Finance. That step addressed a long-standing concern for banks: settlement risk and the need to pre-fund positions. With DvP in place, crypto trades could be handled more cleanly within existing treasury and risk frameworks.

Against that background, integrating Bitpanda is primarily about widening distribution, not changing how trades are executed or settled.

What Bitpanda Brings to the Structure

Bitpanda’s role goes beyond that of a retail exchange. Its institutional business focuses on providing white-label infrastructure for banks and brokers, including access to more than 650 digital assets, custody arrangements, wallet services, and operational support that can be embedded into third-party platforms.

A key factor is regulation. Bitpanda has built a network of approvals that allow services to be passported across the European Economic Area under MiCA. For banks, that reduces the need for country-by-country compliance work when rolling out crypto products to clients.

Under the partnership, Bitpanda supplies the asset universe and operational backbone, while execution and liquidity remain within the 3DX environment. Banks can offer crypto exposure to customers while keeping pricing, trading, and risk controls inside systems they already use.

Investor Takeaway

Why the Timing Matters

For Deutsche Börse, the integration fits a wider effort to keep digital assets within regulated market rails. Alongside 3DX, the group has backed projects tied to tokenized securities and other digital asset infrastructure, pointing to a preference for incremental build-out rather than separate crypto venues.

For Bitpanda, the timing is also strategic. The Vienna-based firm is preparing for a potential public listing in Frankfurt in the first half of the year, according to a Bloomberg report, with a targeted valuation of €4 billion to €5 billion. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank have reportedly been appointed to work on the offering.

Expanding institutional distribution through Deutsche Börse-owned infrastructure strengthens Bitpanda’s pitch to public market investors at a time when exchange valuations are increasingly tied to diversified, non-retail revenue.

What This Says About Europe’s Crypto Direction

The partnership reflects a broader shift under MiCA. Rather than building full crypto stacks internally, many European banks are opting for modular arrangements that allow controlled market entry while keeping core systems intact.

By combining 360T’s execution environment with Bitpanda’s asset infrastructure, banks can add crypto exposure without assuming end-to-end operational responsibility. Whether the model extends into stablecoins or tokenized instruments remains open, but Deutsche Börse has already shown interest in that direction through other initiatives.