Fortuneo Breaks Barriers: Neobank Goes All-In on Crypto in 2025

Traditional finance just got a crypto wake-up call.

French neobank Fortuneo—known for shaking up retail banking—just ripped up the rulebook by integrating Bitcoin and altcoins into its platform. No more clunky exchanges, no more 'not your keys' anxiety for normies dipping toes in digital assets.

Why this matters

Banks treating crypto like a dirty secret? That playbook's gathering dust. Fortuneo's move signals what insiders have whispered for years: institutions can't ignore blockchain's gravitational pull any longer. Even if half their board still thinks 'DeFi' is a typo.

The cynical take

Watch legacy banks suddenly 'discover' crypto now that a competitor's eating their lunch—right after a decade of calling it a scam. Funny how profitability changes minds.

Bottom line: The floodgates are open. Whether this triggers a domino effect or becomes a cautionary tale depends entirely on whether crypto's 2025 bull run has legs. Place your bets.

In brief

• Fortuneo is preparing its entry into crypto to meet strong growing demand.
• Online banks no longer have a choice: crypto is becoming a strategic standard
• Bitpanda, MiCA, competition… Fortuneo is advancing its pieces in the digital asset universe.

A discreet but inevitable race towards crypto assets

Although Fortuneo officially confirms nothing, the signals are clear: the neobank, like other European players who already make cryptos accessible to the general public, is active behind the scenes on the crypto topic. Sources close to the matter speak of a possible launch “in a few months,” while others mention just a study phase. But the momentum is definitely there.

The strategy WOULD be to rely on a white-label offering. Bitpanda, already a partner of Lydia and Deutsche Bank, is a favorite candidate. Sopra Steria is also in the loop with its own crypto infrastructure for banks. The benefit? To quickly offer a robust solution without rebuilding the entire technical architecture.

Why this MOVE now? Because the market dictates the pace. The regulatory context is improving, crypto prices are soaring, and customer expectations are evolving. For an online bank, not offering access to digital assets means losing ground on a young, connected, and innovation-hungry target audience, as shown by this recent development at Fortuneo, which is considering opening crypto investment to its clients.

Crypto competitive pressure reshuffles the cards

BoursoBank has taken the step. It offers its clients to invest in bitcoin ETPs via BlackRock and CoinShares. CoinShares, precisely, has just obtained its MiCA license in France, a key milestone to regulate and secure this type of crypto investment. And this is just the beginning: other banks, like BPCE (via Hexarq) and Deutsche Bank, are moving in the same direction.

The message is clear: there is no longer room for hesitant ones. Even modest offerings are enough to signal a strategic intention. Being present, even symbolically, allows responding to growing demand while preparing the future of the banking model in the age of cryptocurrencies. Fortuneo, with its digital anchoring and customer base receptive to new technologies, ticks all the boxes to succeed in this turn.

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