Key Takeaways
- Austria fined Bitpanda 70K euros for missing a whitepaper deadline, marking the first penalty under EU’s MiCA.
- The historic penalty signals that MiCA regulation has shifted from mere supervision to active enforcement.
- The fine sparked criticism, raising questions about Bitpanda’s trustworthiness and regulatory compliance.
While the grandfathering period for the full implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework ended on July 1, 2026, the first registered penalty against an exchange has been issued in Austria, marking the start of a new era of oversight for the crypto industry in the EU.
On August 14, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) disclosed it had imposed a 70,000 euros ($80,304) fine on Bitpanda, one of the first exchanges to receive a MiCA licence from Germany’s Bafin in January 2025 and from Austria’s FMA in April 2025.
FMA declared that Bitpanda failed to comply with MiCA Article 8, failing to notify the institution of a cryptocurrency whitepaper at least 20 days before its admission to trading. In addition, the FMA also issued a marketing notice without having previously published the required crypto whitepaper, contrary to what MiCA Article 1 establishes.
“MiCAR serves to create a uniform legal framework for crypto assets across the Union and aims in particular to protect investors and ensure the integrity of the crypto markets. The criminal record is legally binding,” the regulator assessed.
The Austrian regulator also highlighted that this was the first legally binding penalty issued under the MiCA framework, stressing that it made it clear MiCA “is no longer just a concession and supervisory issue, but has also arrived in enforcement.”
“The FMA supports the development of a regulated market for crypto assets. Innovation and consistent enforcement are not mutually exclusive. Transparency and investor protection regulations are essential components of this legal framework,” it concluded.
Markus Miller, from Miller Protect AG, stressed that the sanction raised “uncomfortable questions about Bitpanda’s claims to regulatory seriousness and its role.”
“A license only builds trust if the rules behind it are consistently followed,” Miller criticized.
The FMA also pointed out that no special treatment would be given to Bitpanda, even if this was the first MiCA-published case.
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