Bitpanda Fined 70,000 Euros in Austria's First Published MiCA Enforcement Case
Key Takeaways
- •Austria’s FMA imposed a 70,000-euro fine on Bitpanda for violations of the EU’s MiCA rules.
- •The regulator said Bitpanda did not submit a crypto white paper 20 working days before publishing it.
- •The FMA also found that Bitpanda sent a marketing communication before the white paper was published and omitted required disclosure information in another communication.
- •Bitpanda said the regulator’s concerns involved timing and formal publication requirements and that the issues were corrected after being raised.
- •The case was closed through an expedited process, and the penalty is final.
Austria's Financial Market Authority (FMA) has fined Bitpanda GmbH 70,000 euros ($81,150) for breaches of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, marking the regulator's first penalty under the new rules (FMA announcement).
According to the FMA, Bitpanda failed to submit a cryptocurrency white paper at least 20 working days before publishing it. The regulator did not identify the cryptocurrency involved.
The regulator also found that Bitpanda circulated a marketing communication before the required white paper had been published. A further communication omitted a mandatory statement that regulators had not reviewed or approved the document and that the provider was solely responsible for its contents, as well as a telephone number and email address. Those disclosure and timing requirements are part of MiCA's framework for token offerings, which is intended to make offer documents easier for investors to compare and for supervisors to review.
In an emailed statement to CoinDesk, the firm said the regulator's findings "related exclusively to timing and formal specifications surrounding the publication of the whitepaper and an accompanying information document."
"For the token launch in question, we prepared a comprehensive whitepaper in accordance with MiCAR requirements, submitted it to the FMA, and continuously coordinated the entire process with the authority," Bitpanda said. "The points cited related exclusively to timing and formal specifications surrounding the publication of the whitepaper and an accompanying information document."
The white paper was submitted early last year, the firm told CoinDesk. Bitpanda said it corrected the issues after the FMA raised them and opted for a "swift, consensual conclusion" to the proceedings. The regulator closed the case through an expedited process under Austria's Financial Market Authority Act, and the penalty is final.
The enforcement action targets one of Europe's largest crypto brokers. Bitpanda ended 2025 with 7.4 million registered users, up 25% from a year earlier, and 371 million euros in adjusted revenue. The Vienna-based company has been expanding beyond Europe by providing trading, custody and tokenization infrastructure to banks and fintech companies.
Bitpanda secured a MiCA license from German regulator BaFin last year, allowing it to serve customers across the European Economic Area (CoinDesk). Austria's FMA separately authorized Bitpanda GmbH to provide custody, exchange, order execution and other crypto services in April 2025 (FMA).
