Despite the US’s progress in regulating cryptocurrencies, institutional adoption of Bitcoin in the European Union lags behind. While the US is committed to establishing Bitcoin as a national reserve asset, Europe is showing hesitancy due to complex regulatory frameworks.
Institutional adoption of Bitcoin in the European Union remains below expectations, despite the United States moving forward with significant regulatory action to establish Bitcoin as a national reserve asset. More than three weeks after President Donald Trump announced plans to use cryptocurrencies from criminal cases to create a national Bitcoin reserve, European companies have remained largely silent.
This reluctance may be due to Europe’s complex regulatory environment, according to Elisenda Fabrega, general counsel at Brickken, a European platform for the tokenization of real-world assets. Fabrega explained that European corporate adoption of Bitcoin remains limited, reflecting a deeper structural divide rooted in regulation, institutional signals, and market maturity. Europe has not yet taken a clear stance on Bitcoin as a reserve asset. Bitcoin’s economic model favors early investors, which could pressure more investment firms to engage with Bitcoin. Despite a recent correction, the asset has outperformed most major global assets since Trump’s election.
Despite Trump‘s executive order, few European companies have publicly disclosed Bitcoin holdings or crypto services. These include French bank BNP Paribas, Swiss company 21Shares AG, VanEck Europe, Malta-based Jacobi Asset Management, and Austrian fintech firm Bitpanda. A recent Bitpanda survey suggests that European financial institutions may be underestimating demand from crypto investors by as much as 30%.
The EU’s fragmented regulatory landscape lacks clarity. Slower adoption in the EU appears to be linked to its patchwork of regulations and more conservative investment mandates, according to analysts at Bitfinex. Europe’s institutional landscape is more fragmented, with regulatory hurdles and conservative investment mandates limiting Bitcoin allocations. Furthermore, European pension funds and large asset managers have been slower to adopt Bitcoin exposure due to unclear guidelines and risk aversion.
Beyond the fragmented regulations, demand and participation from European retail investors is generally lower than in the US, according to Iliya Kalchev, an analyst at digital investment platform Nexo. Europe is generally more conservative in introducing new financial instruments, which stands in stark contrast to the deep, liquid, and relatively unified US capital market, where the launch of Bitcoin ETFs has been supported by strong demand from retail investors and a clear regulatory green light.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched a Bitcoin ETP in Europe on March 25, a development that could boost institutional confidence among European investors.
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