Austrian Bitcoin platform 21bitcoin will start paying 1.21% annual interest on customers’ uninvested euro balances from today — and letting them collect it in BTC, with no conversion fee.

The company says it’s the first provider in Europe to pay savings interest directly in Bitcoin.

The interest covers every euro in the account, including cash waiting for the next savings-plan purchase or reserved for an open limit order, the company said. There’s no minimum deposit and no lock-up. 

“Building wealth with Bitcoin does not begin with the purchase itself, but with the euros set aside for it,” said co-founder and CEO Daniel Winklhammer.

The money is paid by Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Bayern Mitte eG, a German bank that has owned a stake in 21bitcoin since 2023. 

Customer euros sit in a segregated trust account at the bank as instant-access savings. 21bitcoin says it passes the interest on in full and keeps no margin. The company is pitching this as a deliberate contrast to the high-yield promises that brought down several crypto lenders.

The rate is variable, and interest is subject to German withholding tax.

The launch follows 21bitcoin’s zero-fee Bitcoin savings plan, introduced earlier this year. The company last year teamed up with VR Bank Bayern Mitte eG and Sopra Financial Technology GmbH to launch a pioneering European pilot project in hopes to develop an institutional-grade Bitcoin-backed credit product.

Bitcoin-backed loans, insured cold storage, and multisig inheritance custody are slated for 2027.

Founded in 2021, 21bitcoin holds a MiCAR licence in Austria and is authorized by Germany’s BaFin. It reports more than 100,000 users and over €650 million in trading volume.