Austria’s Financial Market Authority has fined Bitpanda GmbH 70,000 euros ($81,150) for breaches of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, marking the first published legally binding penalty under the new framework in the country.
The FMA said Bitpanda failed to submit a mandatory cryptocurrency white paper at least 20 working days before publishing it, in violation of MiCA Article 8. The regulator also found that Bitpanda circulated marketing communications before the required white paper was published, and that a subsequent communication omitted mandatory disclosures stating regulators had not reviewed or approved the document.
Bitpanda Calls Violations ‘Timing and Formal Specifications’
Bitpanda told CoinDesk that the regulator’s findings “related exclusively to timing and formal specifications surrounding the publication of the whitepaper and an accompanying information document.” The company said it prepared a comprehensive whitepaper in accordance with MiCA requirements and continuously coordinated with the FMA throughout the process.
The Vienna-based crypto broker said it fixed the issues after the FMA raised them and chose a “swift, consensual conclusion” to the proceedings. The white paper in question was submitted early last year, according to the company. The FMA concluded the case through an expedited process under Austria’s Financial Market Authority Act, and the penalty is final.
A Signal That MiCA Has Entered Active Enforcement
The FMA stressed that the publication of sanctions is part of the legal system and serves to ensure transparency for market participants and investors. “The fact that this is the first published MiCAR case does not in itself justify a special status for the company concerned or the violations found,” the regulator wrote.
The penalty 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 company has been expanding beyond Europe by providing trading, custody, and tokenization infrastructure to banks and fintech companies.
Bitpanda secured a MiCA license from the FMA in April 2025 to provide custody, exchange, order execution, and other crypto services. It also holds a MiCA license from Germany’s BaFin, allowing it to serve customers across the European Economic Area. The case does not concern customer asset custody or access to withdrawals.
The ruling arrives as EU regulators ramp up enforcement under MiCA, which became fully applicable in late 2024. While Malta had previously imposed a penalty under AML rules on OKX, the Bitpanda case is the first published MiCA-specific enforcement decision, signaling that the framework has moved from supervisory oversight into active policing of compliance obligations.
Sources: CoinDesk; The Block; Finance Magnates; Austrian Financial Market Authority
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