Bitcoin.de has kept most trading suspended after Germany's financial regulator BaFin rejected Bitcoin Group SE's application for authorization under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets rules. According to reports from ChainCatcher and Cointelegraph, the licensing process had lasted more than 15 months, while operational trading on Bitcoin.de has largely been suspended since June 12, 2026. BaFin informed Bitcoin Group SE that its previous tolerance for providing crypto-asset services no longer applies, with the company expecting formal service of the decision and having one month to lodge an objection after notification. CEO Moritz Eckert stated the company had anticipated the rejection and is currently reviewing the decision, with options to file an objection or resubmit the application in the future. The company has since reserved the right to appeal the decision and is exploring alternative operational models to resume trading services.
Instead of waiting for another license application to run its course, Bitcoin Group SE plans to work with regulated companies based in Germany. As reported by ChainCatcher and Cointelegraph, Bitcoin Group said one regulated institution would initially act as the trading counterparty for Bitcoin.de customers, while another regulated German company would hold customer crypto assets. Neither partner has been named, and the company has not announced a firm reopening date, though the company is working to restore trading through the rebuilt Bitcoin.de app within the next few weeks. The new model would change the operating structure that Bitcoin Group had been preparing before the BaFin refusal, with the company now exploring alternative pathways to comply with regulatory requirements. This rejection means Bitcoin Group SE cannot legally offer crypto-asset services in the EU unless it partners with a MiCA-authorized entity, forcing the company to seek regulated partners to resume compliant operations.
Bitcoin.de's prolonged relaunch has weighed significantly on Bitcoin Group SE's financial performance. According to reports from ChainCatcher, for the first half of 2026, Bitcoin Group SE reported revenue of €1.59 million, down from €3.78 million during the same period in 2025. EBITDA fell to a loss of €3.25 million from a €1 million loss a year earlier, with earnings per share coming to negative €1.02, compared with negative €0.33 in the first half of 2025. The company attributed the weaker performance to reduced trading activity, crypto-market conditions and higher spending tied to the platform rebuild and workforce expansion. The company held €199 million in net crypto assets as of June 30 and reported an equity ratio of 71.8%. Investors should watch for updates on regulatory status, potential partnerships, and the resumption of trading as the company navigates the MiCA compliance requirements.
Bitcoin.de had spent much of 2025 and 2026 rebuilding its business from its older peer-to-peer marketplace model into a more conventional crypto trading platform. As reported by ChainCatcher and Cointelegraph, just one week before the BaFin decision, Bitcoin Group SE said the new platform, website and mobile application had been technologically completed and passed functional and security testing. The planned product range includes more than 100 cryptocurrencies, crypto swaps, savings plans and staking, with transactions expected to be processed in seconds through a reference account, starting from €1 investment. Those plans were tied to regulatory approval, with the company saying on September 29 that the restart of crypto trading remained dependent on completion of the licensing process. The upgrade from the original peer-to-peer platform, which serves over 1.1 million registered users, has been delayed due to the pending MiCA license approval.
Bitcoin Group SE shares finished October 6 at €27.98 on Xetra, down 1.96% for the session, according to market data reported by ChainCatcher. The regulatory announcement was released shortly after the regular German trading session. The rejection matters beyond one exchange, as MiCA was sold as a passport: get authorized in one EU member state and operate across all 27. Bitcoin's price fell sharply below $84,000, reaching $83,551 on Coinbase amid a sudden market sell-off, with this decline triggering the liquidation of $83 million worth of long positions within 24 hours, indicating significant trader losses and increased market volatility. The company expects 2026 revenue to decline from the previous year and forecasts another negative full-year EBITDA, with management having already warned that the delayed MiCA approval made customer migration, the platform restart and uptake of products such as staking difficult to forecast. Bitcoin.de serves over 1.1 million registered users and had planned to launch its new broker model by the end of June before trading was suspended.
