Cryptocurrency trading firm Bitpanda announced on Wednesday that it has received approval to operate in the UK from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The company has had a physical presence in the UK since 2018 and still appears to employ over 40 people in the country.

However, the exchange stopped onboarding UK retail clients towards the end of 2023, after the FCA introduced restrictions on firms in the cryptocurrency sector.

Bitpanda was not the only firm to do this, with companies like Paypal and Bybit also restricting access to crypto services for UK customers after those changes went into play.

The crypto firm has still offered services to institutions in the UK via a separate entity, which provides custodial and technology solutions to other companies, including firms like Plum and N26.

Wednesday’s announcement comes on the heels of another major approval for Bitpanda.

The company, which is headquartered in Austria, announced last month that it had become the first crypto firm to get the green light from the German regulator to operate under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (‘MiCAR‘) framework.