Penning: the profile of the Danish crypto firm authorised for seven MiCA services, and what its Veli deal changed

Editorial company profile — reviewed by Penning on 14 September 2026. This is the English-language edition of a definitive company profile prepared by The Cryptonomist. Every company-supplied figure and statement is labelled as such; regulatory facts are drawn from the registers of Finanstilsynet, ESMA and France’s AMF. Publication is editorial and is not conditioned on any purchase.

In one line: Penning Financial Services ApS is a Danish crypto-asset service provider that on 15 January 2026 was authorised by Finanstilsynet (the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority) for seven of MiCA’s ten regulated services, including portfolio management — a scope it used four months later, in June 2026, to acquire the wealth-management business of Lithuania’s Veli and launch Penning Wealth, while passporting the same licence to 30 EU/EEA states.

At a glance

Sources: ESMA interim MiCA CASP register; Finanstilsynet; France’s AMF whitelist; Danish CVR company register; written answers from Hasan Surtiwala, Penning’s Executive Chairman, to The Cryptonomist (17–21 August and 8 September 2026). Methodology and full list at the end.

What is Penning?

Penning is a Copenhagen-based, regulated platform for trading and holding crypto-assets, operated by the legal entity Penning Financial Services ApS and reachable at www.penning.io. It offers self-directed trading (spot), a discretionary portfolio-management service, and — since June 2026 — a separate wealth-management arm, Penning Wealth, built on the platform it acquired from Lithuania’s Veli. Its core claim is regulatory: it holds a MiCA authorisation from Denmark’s Finanstilsynet covering seven of the regulation’s ten licensable crypto-asset services, and it passports that single licence across the European Economic Area rather than seeking country-by-country approval. (company-reported) [Penning, about-us]

Who founded Penning?

Penning was founded by three people who still run it: Hasan Surtiwala, Executive Chairman; Jimmie Hansen Steinbeck, CEO; and Martin J. H. Jessen, who sits on the executive board. Surtiwala confirmed the third name directly: Jessen is a “Co-founder alongside me and Jimmie” and an “Executive Board Member.” [Hasan Surtiwala, Penning, 8 September 2026]

Is Penning regulated? Who supervises it?

Yes. Penning Financial Services ApS (CVR 44645971) was authorised by Finanstilsynet, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, on 15 January 2026, under FTID 10902, as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114). The authorisation, its services and its 30-country passporting scope are listed in ESMA’s interim MiCA CASP register, which records Finanstilsynet as the competent authority and 15/01/2026 as the authorisation-notification date. [ESMA interim MiCA CASP register]

Asked what the process actually required, Hasan Surtiwala, Penning’s Executive Chairman, told The Cryptonomist that authorisation “was never about having a polished application; it was about demonstrating that the operating model could stand up to supervision.” Finanstilsynet, he said, “needed to see the fundamentals: appropriate capital, governance and fit-and-proper management; robust AML and risk controls; business continuity and ICT security; clear customer-asset and client-funds segregation; and service-specific policies for the activities we wanted to provide.” For the portfolio-management service specifically, he added, the bar was higher again: “you need a credible suitability process, people with demonstrable competence to manage mandates, conflict controls, client reporting and a way to keep client circumstances and risk tolerance under review.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers to The Cryptonomist, 17–21 August 2026]

The hardest part, in his account, was not writing policy but proving it worked in practice: “The longest part was turning those requirements into an evidence trail that worked end to end. Policies are necessary, but the real test is whether onboarding, suitability, execution, monitoring, reporting and escalation work together in practice. That operationalisation — and documenting it to a standard a supervisor can test — was the heavy lift.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

One attribution needs precision. Penning is often described, including in some of its own marketing, as “the only Danish CASP authorised for portfolio management of crypto-assets.” Surtiwala’s own written answer qualifies that: “we were at the time the only authorized Danish CASP with permission to offer portfolio management services. While that is still the case (in terms of being a native Danish company), many have passported throughout EU and subsequently ‘landed’ in Denmark as well, i.e, [sic] Penning is operating amongst portfolio management service providers.” The accurate statement, in his own framing, is that Penning was at the time of authorisation the only native Danish CASP authorised for portfolio management — not the only firm offering that service to Danish clients, since foreign CASPs have since passported the same activity into Denmark. [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

What services is Penning authorised to provide?

MiCA sets out ten possible crypto-asset services a CASP can be licensed for. Penning is authorised for seven of them:

1. Custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients — holding and safeguarding clients’ crypto-assets.
2. Exchange of crypto-assets for funds — converting between crypto-assets and fiat currency.
3. Exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets — swapping one crypto-asset for another.
4. Execution of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients — carrying out a client’s buy or sell instruction.
5. Reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients — passing a client’s order on for execution rather than executing it directly.
6. Portfolio management of crypto-assets — managing a client’s crypto holdings on a discretionary mandate.
7. Transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients — moving crypto-assets between accounts or wallets on a client’s instruction.

Penning is not authorised for the three remaining MiCA services: operation of a trading platform for crypto-assets, placing of crypto-assets (MiCAR Article 3(1)(16)), or providing advice on crypto-assets. That first gap is worth stating plainly, because Surtiwala flagged it himself when describing the exchange services: Penning’s licence covers “two forms of exchange (exchange between fiat to crypto and crypto to crypto, not to be confused with an actual exchange)” — meaning Penning converts and swaps crypto-assets for clients, but does not operate an order-book trading venue. [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

On why the scope stopped at seven rather than fewer or more, Surtiwala said: “The objective from the outset was to build a broad, regulated operating platform rather than a narrow single-product licence. […] The discipline throughout was to ask for the services we could operate to the required standard, not to collect permissions for their own sake.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers] France’s markets regulator, the AMF, lists the identical seven services against Penning’s passported entry in its own public whitelist, with the same legal entity name and LEI (9845000E4A7414709361) — independent confirmation that the scope Penning describes matches what regulators record. [AMF France, CASP whitelist]

What is Penning Wealth, and what happened with Veli?

On 4 June 2026, Penning announced it had acquired the wealth-management business of Veli, a crypto-investment platform for retail investors and financial advisers headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania and founded in 2022. The deal created Penning Wealth, positioned as the advisor-led, long-term-holding arm of Penning’s platform, alongside its existing self-directed trading and portfolio-management services. Financial terms were not disclosed. [Penning news; Fintech Futures; The Fintech Times; Disruption Banking]

Asked why Penning bought rather than built this capability, Surtiwala said: “the scarce asset was not just software. Veli brought an established user-facing wealth platform, curated long-term strategies, a European client base and a team that had already spent years solving the experience for people who want to invest in crypto rather than trade it. Buying that combination gives us a materially faster and less disruptive route to Penning Wealth than building every layer from scratch.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

The deal separates the business from Veli’s corporate shell: “We acquired the wealth-management business and client base, with a perpetual licence to the platform; Veli UAB continues as a separate company. […] It is a targeted integration, not an attempt to bolt together two whole companies.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers] Veli’s own blog post on the deal quoted its chief executive, Stevan Radonjanin: “Veli was built for the people who want to invest in crypto, not trade it.” Penning’s CEO, Jimmie Hansen Steinbeck, said Penning Wealth is “a natural extension of what we already do.” [Penning news; Veli blog]

Client migration from Veli’s platform to Penning Wealth was completed by the end of June 2026. (company-reported) [Penning news] Penning frames the move as complementary — extending the firm from execution and active portfolio management toward user-led, long-horizon wealth holding, “rather than a diversion from the core platform.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers] At Penning’s request, this profile describes Penning Wealth as a single offering rather than naming individual strategies or packages, which the company says are being renamed. Two other named products, Penning Edge and Penning Trade, appear on Penning’s site with stated performance figures; Penning asked that these be treated as company-stated targets, not returns, and this profile does so — a target is not a promised or historical return. (company-reported) [Penning.io, homepage]

Where does Penning operate? What does passporting change, and what doesn’t?

Under MiCA, a CASP authorised in one EU/EEA state can “passport” that authorisation into other member states by having its home regulator notify the host states, rather than obtaining a fresh licence in each one. ESMA’s interim CASP register lists Penning’s authorisation as passported into 30 EU/EEA states: the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. [ESMA interim MiCA CASP register] France’s AMF separately records Penning on its own regulated whitelist, with a licensing date of 1 March 2026, under the “free provision of services” — a concrete, independent trace of the passporting mechanism at work in one host state. [AMF France, CASP whitelist] Estonia’s Finantsinspektsioon also lists Penning as a cross-border crypto-asset service provider operating under its Danish authorisation. [Estonia FSA, fi.ee]

Surtiwala described the mechanism plainly: “Under MiCA, we notify our Danish home authority of the host markets and services; it transmits the notification to the relevant authorities and European supervisors. That lets us focus operational energy on a consistent product, onboarding, controls and client experience rather than repeating a full authorisation process 30 times.” What does not change, he said, is the standard behind it: “Finanstilsynet remains our home supervisor, our core governance, risk, AML, security and client-protection controls remain central, and the obligations of a portfolio manager do not become lighter when the client is in another market.” He added that local judgment still applies market by market: “We still have to make responsible decisions about where, when and how a service is offered, and to communicate clearly with clients in each market. The point is not ’30 different businesses’; it is one regulated European platform with a consistent control framework.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

What’s next for Penning in the next 12 months?

Surtiwala named three priorities. First, integration: “making the move from Veli to Penning Wealth feel like continuity for clients and users, while bringing the platform fully into Penning’s MiCA-authorised operating model.” Second, product depth “around the use cases Veli was built for: bitcoin-anchored, balanced and index-style long-term strategies.” Third, distribution: “we will build distribution through wealth managers, where a regulated infrastructure layer can remove much of the operational burden of adding digital assets to a client offering.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

On geography, Penning is not treating its 30-country passport as something to activate everywhere at once: “the licence gives us the ability to serve the EU/EEA, but we will expand deliberately rather than treat passporting as a race for flags. Our earlier roadmap identified Sweden and Norway, followed by Germany and the Netherlands; the next twelve months are about translating that regulatory reach into a genuinely useful local client and user proposition.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

Timeline

FAQ

Is Penning safe? Penning is authorised and supervised by Finanstilsynet, Denmark’s financial regulator, under MiCA — a regime that requires capital, governance, AML controls, ICT security and client-asset segregation — and its authorisation is recorded in ESMA’s public CASP register. Regulation reduces certain risks (unlicensed operation, undisclosed conflicts, unclear complaint routes) but does not eliminate market or custody risk generally. [ESMA interim MiCA CASP register]

Is Penning an exchange? Not in the sense of operating a trading platform: Penning is not authorised for that MiCA service. It is authorised to exchange crypto-assets for funds and for other crypto-assets, execute and transmit client orders, provide custody, transfer services and portfolio management — described by Surtiwala as services “not to be confused with an actual exchange.” [Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

Can EU residents use Penning? Penning’s Danish MiCA authorisation is passported to 30 EU/EEA states per ESMA’s register, so residents of those states can generally be served under the same licence, subject to Penning’s own market-by-market rollout decisions. Readers should check ESMA’s current register and Penning’s own site for live availability in a specific country. [ESMA interim MiCA CASP register]

Who regulates Penning? Finanstilsynet, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, is Penning’s home regulator under MiCA (FTID 10902), and remains its home supervisor even in states where it operates via passporting. [Finanstilsynet; Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

What is Penning Wealth? Penning Wealth is Penning’s advisor-led, long-term wealth-management offering, built on the platform and client base acquired from Lithuania’s Veli in June 2026 and operated under Penning’s MiCA authorisation. [Penning news; Hasan Surtiwala, written answers]

Does Penning give investment advice? No. Advice on crypto-assets is one of the three MiCA services Penning is not authorised for; its authorised portfolio-management service manages a client mandate rather than issuing individualised advice. Figures Penning states for products such as Penning Edge or Penning Trade are described by the company as targets, not guaranteed or historical returns. [ESMA interim MiCA CASP register; Penning.io, homepage]

Where are client assets held? Penning’s written answers to The Cryptonomist did not address custody arrangements, so this profile does not describe them. On its own site, Penning says it operates “as a brokerage, not a custodian”, with crypto “delivered to your own wallet”; for Penning Wealth, the same site describes a different model, with client crypto “held with our EU-regulated custody partner, not by Penning itself” — the partner is not named (company-reported). Penning’s MiCA authorisation nonetheless covers custody and administration of crypto-assets, and client-asset segregation is a requirement under Finanstilsynet’s supervision. [Penning, about-us; Penning, Wealth page; ESMA interim MiCA CASP register]

What this profile does not cover

Some points were outside the material Penning provided and could not be established from public sources; they are stated here rather than guessed at. The financial terms of the Veli acquisition were not disclosed. No assets-under-management or client-number figures for Penning, Penning Wealth or the former Veli business were disclosed. The current names of Penning Wealth’s strategies or packages are being renamed by the company and are therefore not listed. The exact custody arrangements for client crypto-assets were not addressed in Penning’s answers. And the list of countries where Penning actively serves clients today, as opposed to the 30 states covered by its passport, was not disclosed; the company’s stated rollout order is Sweden and Norway, then Germany and the Netherlands. If Penning supplies any of these, this profile will be updated and the change dated.

Methodology & sources

Compiled from primary regulatory records, company statements and independent reporting; company-supplied figures and direct quotations are labelled and attributed. Key sources: ESMA’s interim register of MiCA crypto-asset service providers (esma.europa.eu; Penning’s entry last updated 4 March 2026, re-read on 15 September 2026); Finanstilsynet’s company register (virksomhedsregister.finanstilsynet.dk, FTID 10902; the register page loads through a search interface, so authorisation date and scope were confirmed through the ESMA and AMF records); France’s AMF MiCA whitelist (amf-france.org, licensing date 1 March 2026, re-read on 15 September 2026); Estonia’s Finantsinspektsioon cross-border CASP list (fi.ee); Denmark’s official CVR/Virk company register (datacvr.virk.dk, read on 8 September 2026); Hasan Surtiwala’s written answers to five questions from The Cryptonomist (17–21 August 2026) and his email of 8 September 2026; Penning’s own site, including its About, CASP-licence, Wealth and news pages, and its announcement of the Veli acquisition; Veli’s blog post on the same deal; and coverage by Fintech Futures, The Fintech Times and Disruption Banking. Penning reviewed the draft and confirmed its facts on 14 September 2026.

Prepared by The Cryptonomist as an editorial company profile. Publication is editorial and not conditioned on any purchase.

Last verified: 15 September 2026. Penning reviewed the draft on 14 September 2026; the ESMA CASP register and the AMF whitelist were re-read on 15 September 2026.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.