Austrian crypto exchange Bitpanda has categorically abandoned its plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange, calling it too illiquid to attract serious investments. Instead, the company is looking at Frankfurt or New York — a clear signal that the British financial center is losing its appeal.
Eric Demuth, the founder of the Vienna exchange, directly told the Financial Times: "It definitely won't be in London." According to him, the London Stock Exchange is going through tough times in terms of liquidity, and the situation is unlikely to improve in the coming years.
Demuth is not the only one who thinks so. British fintech Wise and other companies have already started moving their primary listings abroad to attract more investors. It turns out that London is transforming from a magnet for capital into a city that companies are fleeing from.
London at a 30-year low
The numbers speak for themselves: the amount of funds raised through listings in London in the first half of the year has fallen to a 30-year low. This is not just a temporary setback — it is a systemic crisis that calls into question the UK's ability to compete with other global financial centers.
The country’s crypto policy also leaves much to be desired. In June, analysts from the independent OMFIF institute stated that the UK had squandered its first-mover advantage in distributed finance. Last month, Coinbase released a sarcastic video mocking the state of the British economy — cheerful songs about how "everything is fine" against a backdrop of poverty and crumbling infrastructure.
America as a magnet for crypto companies
While London suffers, crypto companies are actively filing for listings in the US. This month, the Gemini Space Station of the Winklevoss brothers (Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss) applied for a listing on Nasdaq under the ticker GEMI. They were joined by blockchain lender Figure, BitGo, and Bullish — another exchange backed by Peter Thiel that has already listed on the NYSE.
Interestingly, Bitpanda itself recently launched in the UK, offering users the ability to trade more than 600 digital assets, and even signed a sponsorship deal with the Arsenal football club. Apparently, trading in the country is one thing, while attracting capital there is quite another.
Bitpanda's decision reflects a broader trend: the crypto industry is voting with dollars for jurisdictions with clearer regulation and deep capital markets. London is currently losing this race.
