Crypto and Stablecoin Solutions: Why Cyclops settled in Austria

A regulated stablecoin business needs predictability – and Austria delivers it. The FMA supervised virtual asset service providers years before the EU's MiCAR framework took effect, and the FMA brings that experience to the new regime with clear guidance and an authorization process companies can plan around. For Cyclops, whose product works best with its own licenses, that is a structural advantage.

Then there is the talent: Vienna has a deep talent pool of compliance, AML, risk, legal and audit professionals who understand traditional finance, payments and crypto. That is why Cyclops is staffing its second line of defense locally.

Austria also offers a central location, solid infrastructure, a well-structured banking sector and an active fintech and digital assets community that engages constructively with the regulator. Cyclops is an active member of the Digital Assets Association Austria.

Above all, Austria is the gateway to the European single market: one authorization, passported across the EU, lets payment companies work with a single European counterparty.

Vienna started as a licensing project and has become the operational center of Cyclops' European business. The Austrian subsidiary was incorporated in January 2026 and is now in the authorization process with the FMA. With the FMA's green light, Vienna will take charge of every EU client: the client relationship, the compliance framework and the European configuration of the platform will all be managed from here.

The $20 million Series A, led by Nava Ventures in July 2026, funds exactly this. A significant share goes into European licensing and a local team spanning AML, risk, product, operations and go-to-market. The next step after MiCAR is a dual authorization under the Austrian ZaDiG 2018 (Austria’s implementation of the EU's Payment Services Directive, PSD2), which would further widen what Cyclops can offer European payment companies.

What has worked better than expected is the speed of Vienna's professional ecosystem. Advisors, auditors and lawyers understand this business, senior compliance talent is available, and the dialogue with the regulator has been substantive from the start.

The ABA guides international companies through every step of setting up in Austria – from incorporation, tax and local legal requirements to hiring and introductions into the local financial and fintech network. For companies like Cyclops, that means fast answers, the right contacts and planning certainty from day one.