Bitpanda wants to move out of the crypto niche and into the top tier of European financial platforms. With a broad advertising campaign, prominent testimonials, and the planned stock market launch in Frankfurt, the Vienna-based fintech presents itself as a future universal broker for stocks, ETFs, and digital assets. However, behind the shiny facade, the risks are accumulating: a cyclical core business, fierce competition from neo-brokers, and, most recently, serious allegations from the financial supervisory authority. The question is: Does the new growth story still hold, or is the strategic shift too late?

Bitpanda stages itself as the model child of the European crypto industry: fully licensed, strictly supervised, ready for the stock market launch. However, internal documents and investigations by WDR, NDR, and Süddeutsche Zeitung paint a significantly more complex picture. They show that the German financial supervisory authority identified significant deficiencies in risk management, IT, and organization at the Bitpanda subsidiary – and that even internally, there were doubts about the company's regulatory maturity. The central question is: How robust is the compliance promise of one of Europe's most valuable crypto companies?

After the ETF euphoria and legal breakthrough, the Ripple currency is at risk of losing momentum. A prominent market observer already sees the rally as exhausted, with the greatest risk being the absence of new stimuli.

With Onecoin, millions of investors were defrauded of billions. The mastermind Ruja Ignatova has been missing for years. While investigators search worldwide, a German prosecutor is trying to achieve at least some justice for the victims.

Bitcoin begins the year 2026 cautiously. About 30 percent below its all-time high, uncertain investors and lowered price targets shape the picture. Nevertheless, voices are increasing that attribute significant potential to the largest crypto asset in the new year. Regulatory tailwinds, institutional demand, and decreasing volatility could stabilize the market—even though risks remain.

The euphoria in the cryptocurrency market is receiving a significant setback. The British major bank Standard Chartered has drastically revised its Bitcoin forecast downward and halved the price target for 2025. Responsible factors include a prolonged sideways phase for Bitcoin and a declining demand from institutional buyers.

The crypto market continues to be shaped by three heavyweights. Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum pursue different strategies, compete for acceptance and value creation, and could sustainably change the global financial architecture. Despite ongoing volatility, many market observers see this trio as the central drivers of the coming years.