Bitget Taps Ex-Bitpanda CLO Oliver Stauber to Lead MiCA Push from Vienna

Bitget appointed former Bitpanda chief authorized officer and prior KuCoin EU head Oliver Stauber as CEO of Bitget EU to lead the change’s Markets in Crypto Property Regulation (MiCA) growth and arrange its new European headquarters in Vienna.

The entity, which utilized for a MiCA license in Austria in 2025, expects regulatory approval within the second quarter of 2026 and won’t provide providers within the European Financial Space (EEA) till authorization is granted, Stauber advised Cointelegraph.

He mentioned that Bitget EU will ring‑fence EEA customers from the offshore Bitget platform by way of Web Protocol (IP) tackle detection and enhanced Know Your Customer (KYC) controls designed to forestall unlicensed entities from onboarding residents by means of geographic workarounds, advertising and marketing or reverse solicitation. 

“Oliver’s appointment builds our confidence in Bitget’s long-term presence in Europe,” mentioned Gracy Chen, CEO at Bitget, in a launch shared with Cointelegraph.

She added that he introduced the “regulatory fluency and operational self-discipline wanted” to arrange Bitget’s EU headquarters in Austria.

The brand new entity can even apply strict token itemizing standards, providing solely these belongings that meet MiCA’s whitepaper, liquidity and disclosure requirements, in accordance to the discharge.

“We’re presently conducting a rigorous audit of our stock,” Stauber mentioned. “Merchandise that don’t meet EU requirements for market integrity or fail to present ample client disclosures won’t be supplied to EEA customers.”

Associated: KuCoin taps former LSEG exec Sabina Liu to lead MiCA expansion in Europe

Dealer mannequin, greatest‑execution and market‑abuse controls

Stauber mentioned that Bitget EU will function as a dealer moderately than an change, performing as counterparty to all consumer trades whereas sourcing liquidity from a variety of unbiased suppliers underneath greatest‑execution ideas.

He mentioned the “feel and look” of the Bitget EU web site will carefully mirror the present platform, however with a definite authorized construction that reduces market threat for European Union shoppers and is topic to MiCA and European Securities and Markets Authority expectations on market integrity, and nationwide conduct guidelines. 

The corporate additionally plans to deploy market surveillance instruments to detect and forestall market abuse and different manipulative or disorderly buying and selling.

Vienna hub anchors Bitget’s long-term EU technique

Vienna was chosen as Bitget’s EU base due to its central location, multilingual expertise pool and secure regulatory surroundings, which Stauber described as effectively‑suited to function a governance and compliance hub for EEA operations.

Current EEA customers on Bitget’s international platform can be invited to transition to Bitget EU as soon as authorization is in place, with the brand new entity providing EU‑compliant providers.

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