TLDR
- Austria’s FMA fined Bitpanda €70,000 for breaches of MiCA disclosure and marketing rules.
- The case is the regulator’s first published enforcement action under MiCA.
- Bitpanda failed to submit a required crypto white paper at least 20 working days before publication.
- The company also released marketing material before publishing the white paper and omitted required regulatory notices and contact details.
- Bitpanda said the issues involved timing and formal requirements, adding that it corrected them after the FMA raised concerns.
- The penalty is final, while Bitpanda continues operating under MiCA authorizations in Austria and Germany.
Austria’s Financial Market Authority has fined Bitpanda GmbH €70,000 for breaches of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. The case marks the FMA’s first published penalty under MiCA and centers on disclosure and marketing requirements tied to a token launch.
Bitpanda Breached MiCA Publication Rules
The FMA said Bitpanda failed to submit a required crypto white paper at least 20 working days before publication. The regulator did not name the cryptocurrency linked to the case.
The authority also found that Bitpanda released a marketing communication before publishing the white paper. MiCA rules require firms to complete key disclosure steps before promoting a crypto asset to the public.
According to the FMA, another communication lacked a statement explaining that regulators had not reviewed or approved the document. The notice also failed to state that the provider carried full responsibility for its contents.
The same communication did not include a telephone number or email address. These details form part of the information requirements that apply to certain crypto marketing documents under MiCA.
Company Says Case Focused on Formal Issues
Bitpanda told CoinDesk that the findings concerned timing and formal requirements linked to the white paper and an accompanying information document. The company said it had prepared the white paper, submitted it to the FMA, and coordinated with the authority.
The firm said it submitted the document early last year. Bitpanda also said it corrected the issues after the regulator raised them and chose a swift, consensual process to close the matter.
The FMA completed the case through an expedited process under Austria’s Financial Market Authority Act. The €70,000 penalty is final, according to the regulator.
Bitpanda ended 2025 with 7.4 million registered users and €371 million in adjusted revenue. The Vienna-based company holds a MiCA license from Germany’s BaFin and received separate Austrian authorization in April 2025 for custody, exchange, order execution, and other crypto services.
Registered users rose 25% from the previous year. Bitpanda has also expanded beyond direct retail trading by supplying trading, custody, and tokenization infrastructure to banks and financial technology companies in markets outside Europe as well.
