Austria’s Financial Market Authority has fined Bitpanda GmbH €70,000 ($81,130) in what it describes as the country’s first published legally binding penalty under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The decision was published on August 14 and the regulator said the ruling is final.
The sanction relates to a crypto-asset whitepaper and the marketing published around it. The FMA found that Bitpanda did not submit the whitepaper at least 20 working days before its publication, distributed marketing material before the whitepaper was published, and omitted required disclosures from the marketing communication. Specifically, the material lacked the statement that the whitepaper had not been reviewed or approved by a competent authority, the statement that the provider was solely responsible, and a telephone number and email address.
The public notice does not identify the crypto-asset, offer or campaign involved. It also does not allege any custody breach, security incident or loss of client assets. The FMA emphasised that the issue was not simply whether a whitepaper existed, but whether investors received the document before the promotion and whether the promotion clearly identified the provider’s responsibility and the lack of regulatory approval.
Bitpanda received MiCA authorisation from the FMA in April 2025 for custody, exchange, order execution and transfer services. Germany’s BaFin had previously granted the Vienna-based company a MiCA license to serve customers across the European Economic Area. The FMA said the first published case does not grant the company special status or imply that the violations are uniquely significant, but it establishes a public enforcement example.
“MiCAR is no longer only a licensing and supervisory issue; it has also reached enforcement,” the FMA said. The regulator added that publication of sanctions ensures transparency for market participants and investors.
Separately, Bloomberg reported in January that Bitpanda was considering an initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, targeting a valuation of €4 billion to €5 billion, with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank hired to arrange the offering.
The case highlights that holding a MiCA licence does not exempt firms from rules around specific whitepapers or marketing campaigns. Investors are advised to check that a whitepaper is available before relying on a promotion, verify the responsible entity and contact details, and look for the statement that the document has not been approved by a regulator.
